EU taking over Congo mission ‘not on cards’

By David Cronin

Date: 10/06/04

EU DIPLOMATS are examining how UN soldiers in Congo can be helped to cement a fragile peace following last week's fighting in the eastern city of Bukavu.

However, sources say that the possibility of the EU taking the reins in a new peacekeeping mission in central Africa is "not on the cards" at this stage.

This is despite reports that a mission similar to the 2003 Artemis - in which the EU sent some 1,100 troops to the north-eastern Ituri province in Congo - is being contemplated. Speculation about a fresh mission was sparked by comments made by Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel during a visit to Congo earlier this week, when he reportedly said EU governments are "in agreement on the principle of deployment". Michel has subsequently confirmed, though, that an 'Artemis II' is not being envisaged.

On Tuesday (8 June) diplomats at the EU's political and security committee were briefed about the situation in Congo by Aldo Ajello, the Union's envoy to the Great Lakes region.

The ensuing discussions were focused on ways of beefing up MONUC, the UN's peacekeeping mission in Congo. Boasting 10,200 soldiers, 540 military observers and some 140 civilian police, it was heavily criticized by residents in Bukavu because it allegedly stood by while rebels led by Laurent Nkunda, a Congolese Tutsi, went on the rampage. The insurgents captured the town on 2 June but under a UN deal most have since withdrawn.

One EU diplomat said: "The feeling around the table is that we have to use what is already existing. And what is existing is MONUC. If that isn't working, we have to fix it."

Congo was centre-stage during talks at the UN Security Council yesterday (9 June). The previous day several African leaders - meeting at a regional summit in the Ugandan capital Kampala - urged the deployment of additional UN troops in Congo.

A UN official in New York described recent events in Bukavu as a 'setback', adding: "It seems to have been resolved relatively peacefully but that doesn't mean it's over by any means. Fighting could flare up again."

The UN's peacekeeping division, he added, is studying if MONUC needs reinforcements or if there are enough troops currently stationed in Ituri to re-deploy some to Bukavu and the surrounding region.

Meanwhile, preparations are under way for the EU to make a contribution to copperfastening the 26 May peace deal agreed in principle between the Sudanese government and the guerilla Sudan People's Liberation Army, aimed at ending a bitter war between the north and south of the country which has claimed some two million lives.

The Union is expected to provide a vice-president - plucked from the EU's Military Staff - to the ceasefire commission in Sudan in the near future, along with six military observers due to assist with monitoring the implementation of the agreement.