Call for deployment of UN troops

The Rwandan government has called on the UN to deploy troops on Rwandan frontline positions in the DRC to ensure that the Lusaka peace agreement is not violated. “It is up to the UN to take up our offer to withdraw 200 km from our frontline positions so that they can deploy their monitors,” Rwandan presidential adviser for the Great Lakes Patrick Mazimhaka told IRIN. He said Kabila had no veto powers over the deployment of troops in the DRC. “If he does not want UN troops in his area they can be deployed else where,” Mazimhaka added. He pledged that Rwanda would protect UN troops if they came under attack. “If they are attacked, as a member state of the UN we shall come to their rescue, but it should be the responsibility of every member state to intervene and protect them,” he said. Meanwhile, Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Stan Mudege on Thursday told a news conference that the DRC government was unhappy with the manner in which the UN intended to deploy its peacekeeping force in the country. He said the issue would be finalised at the Lusaka summit on Monday bringing together all the belligerents.