Government, MONUC in talks over mandate

“MONUC is holding consultations with the government to clear up certain misunderstandings about the role and mandate it has been given,” Reuters news agency on Wednesday quoted the mission’s spokesman, Amadou Toure, as saying. The government has asked to be given time to review its position on MONUC, UN Security Council resolutions on the DRC conflict and the UN deployment, Toure added. The government has refused to have UN troops in Kinshasa, where some 68 Tunisian troops were due to deploy at MONUC headquarters. “These are security forces. We have buildings, planes, military equipment - and it’s necessary to keep a check on them,” Reuters quoted Lt-Col Regis Barman as saying. MONUC has also been negotiating clearance for South African military units to assist UN troop deployment, diplomatic sources told IRIN. Putting UN peacekeepers in the field required the prior placement of specialised logistics units and, while South African firefighting, logistics, airfield rescue units, medical and cargo-handling teams were on standby, Kinshasa opposed the deployment of South African troops in DRC, they said. The government has also insisted that the deployment of UN troops and equipment cannot be done through neighbouring Central African Republic or Republic of Congo, but through Kinshasa - a condition that could well preclude the deployment of peacekeepers in the country, the sources added. The Kabila government has continued to make life difficult for MONUC, in ways that include required notice of its intentions and restricted access to key government-held areas - despite assurances of cooperation to the UN Security Council, they said. Kinshasa’s block on the deployment of peacekeepers in government areas has also given rise to concerns that similar issues could arise in areas held by the rebels and their allies, Uganda and Rwanda.