A quadripartite commission consisting of representatives from the DRC government, the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC), the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) and the UN mission in the DRC (MONUC) will soon meet to discuss practical ways of resuming commercial traffic on the rivers of the Congo basin, MONUC force commander Major-General Mountaga Diallo announced Tuesday, according to a MONUC statement received by IRIN on Wednesday. Speaking on behalf of UN special representative of the secretary-general Ambassador Kamel Morjane during a ceremony prior to the departure of a convoy of barges carrying humanitarian aid to Equateur province, Diallo encouraged the MLC and the RCD to persevere with ongoing efforts to reopen the Congo river to free circulation of people and goods. Diallo said this was an indispensable condition for the resumption of economic and social activities over the whole of the Congolese territory, which in turn would strengthen the peace process and contribute to reuniting the country.
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