A draft resolution to “equip” 500 military observers for the DRC was circulated by some members of the UN Security Council at an informal meeting on Wednesday, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said. The resolution would authorise UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to equip the observers “with a view to future deployment,” the spokesman said. “I believe the members are trying to come up with something that would be acceptable to all of them and keep the United Nations role in the Congo moving forward, the next step being the deployment of these 500,” he told journalists in New York. Meanwhile, Eckhard confirmed that four UN Military Liaison Officers (MLOs) arrived in rebel-held Gbadolite on Wednesday afternoon, and another MLO team was scheduled to travel to government-held Kananga on Thursday.
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