A UN technical assessment team completed trips last week to the DRC towns of Mbuji-Mayi, Kananga and Mbandaka, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said on Friday. The team is assessing logistical conditions in preparation for the deployment of some 5,500 military observers and troops under phase 2 of the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC). Deployment of the force was expected to take from four to six months, “which means at the earliest by the end of June”, Eckhard stated. He said that Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Bernard Miyet, who just completed a tour of the region, will brief the UN Security Council on the DRC on 28 March.
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