Addressing Security Council, UN envoy urges aid

Briefing the Security Council on Friday on the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR), UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative for CAR, Lamine Cisse, urged support for the country, which is still recovering from the attempted coup of 28 May 2000, the UN announced. Cisse reported that since the failed coup, CAR authorities had been working with different partners to normalise the situation. On the political level, tensions created by the failed putsch are “easing perceptibly” and the UN Peace-building Support Office in the CAR has been working to mediate among the various political forces in the country. On the economic front, he called the consequences of the revolt “disastrous”, noting that the government was seeking urgent aid from the international community. Cisse reported that insecurity persists in the capital, Bangui, and in the country’s interior but that authorities have been working to redress the situation. He said the CAR government remained concerned about its estimated 23,000 civil and military refugees in Zongo, across the Ubangui river, in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cisse reiterated Annan’s call for prompt and massive aid to the CAR in financial, security and institutional support, and added that the World Bank should play a role in this effort. Cisse also introduced key recommendations contained in the Secretary-General’s latest report on the situation in CAR. That report suggest extending the mandate of the UN mission through December 2002. It also calls for the mission to focus on promoting political dialogue, providing technical assistance, promoting disarmament, redressing the human rights situation and mobilising resources for economic recovery.