Annan’s spokesman, Fred Eckhard, told journalists after Friday’s Council meeting that there was “no mention of moving to the second phase, at least not now”. He noted that the deployment of the initial 90 MLOs had not yet been completed, and it was proving difficult to overcome the “deep suspicions” of the UN within the DRC. “As to the parties to the peace agreement, we’re trying to hold everyone’s feet to the fire as far as their commitment to the agreement, but that’s quite wobbly,” Eckhard said. Meanwhile, Zambia’s Secretary for Defence Brigadier-General Timothy Kazembe told Reuters on Friday that the fielding of UN observers would “probably come after three to four months” because the regional JMC would need time to put in place a secure environment for the deployment of foreign troops.
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