Opposition leader calls for rapid UN deployment

The leader of the opposition Union pour la democratie et le progres social (UDPS), Etienne Tshisekedi, predicted on Wednesday that UN peacekeepers would find it difficult to enforce the peace agreement at first, but that they would eventually prevail, AFP reported. “You can’t compare Congo to Sierra Leone,” Tshisekedi said in Montreal during a week-long visit to Canada. “The Congolese people will side with UN forces because they want peace,” he said. He called for the rapid deployment of peacekeeping troops. “The people (of the DRC) live in utter poverty. This is why we make an urgent appeal to the United Nations ... it’s a question of saving thousands of endangered lives,” Tshisekedi said. He was scheduled to meet Canadian government officials on Thursday and would next visit the United States, AFP reported.