Annan Asks Urgently for Troops to Go to Congo (French want the British to help - mine)

Reuters ^ | 5/16/03

[Leroy S. Mort]

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked Security Council members on Friday to urgently consider a rapid reaction force of about 1,000 troops for the eastern Congo where fighting has left hundreds dead and thousands of people homeless and hungry.

In a letter to the 15-member council, Annan said he believed the situation around the town of Bunia in the Ituri region could worsen even though a truce was signed in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, on Friday among the warring parties and Congo President Joseph Kabila.

France offered to send troops but only if other countries, like Britain, joined in a multinational force. South Africa has also expressed willingness. Security Council members, fearing a large scale massacre, are expected to give such a force a mandate in a resolution early next week, diplomats said.

But France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, told council members any mandate would need a time limit, until expected Bangladeshi peacekeepers could arrive, and the troops would have to be accepted by neighboring Uganda and Rwanda.

"At this point this is not the signal we are getting," he was quoted by French envoys as telling the council. France has had cool relations with Rwanda's government since it sent troops into the country in 1994 after the slaughter of Tutsis.

Fighting in and around Bunia between militias linked to the rival Hema and Lendu tribes has wrought havoc over the past 10 days, killing civilians and driving hundreds of thousands of terrified people from their homes.

In a prelude to a resolution on the international force, the Security Council backed Annan's call for troops, which diplomats said would be paid for by the contributors.

It called on all parties in the region "to end all support to armed groups and refrain from any action that might compromise the return to peace" and undermine any future deployment of an international force.

The United Nations has increased a force of peacekeepers in the region to about 700. But the soldiers, deployed in Congo to monitor a cease-fire in the country's wider war, are unable to quell Bunia's kind of mayhem.

The fighting broke out after Ugandan troops left the region. U.N. reports have accused sections of the Uganda military of deliberately fostering the rivalry so local militia could help them loot the area's mineral resources.

Congo's war began in 1998 when Uganda and Rwanda invaded to back rebels fighting to topple the central government. Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia then sent troops to aid the government in Kinshasa and have since withdrawn them.

[Leroy S. Mort]

What we need is more INSPECTORS, Clouseau.....

[My2Cents]

Sen. Bob Graham expresses concern that the UN cannot both keep the peace in the Congo, and rebuild Iraq...

[annyokie]

[Madame Dufarge]

France offered to send troops but only if other countries, like Britain, joined in a multinational force.

"Ok, this is how we'll divvy it up - we'll do the cooking and the Brits can do the fighting. That's fair, isn't it?"

[wildbill]

Sounds like a job for the axis of weasels if you ask me--since they won't be doing much in Iraq

[ThreePuttinDude]

"Sen. Bob Graham expresses concern that the UN cannot
both keep the peace in the Congo, and rebuild Iraq..."

Never mind all the Arab Terrorist running around Florida
unchecked, hell he (Graham) let those damn terrorists
use the airport 3 blocks from this keyboard. I don't think ol'
Bobby Graham has much room to talk about security of countries, when
he can't even secure a state....He is totally useless

Is it clear that Graham is about my least favorite politico....8^)

[Clara Lou]

I say that the French should send their troops. The French know everything. And they are so civilized. Let them handle it.

[solzhenitsyn]

Odd that the French have asked the Brits to come along and help them fight. Why not their good buddies, the Germans?

[genefromjersey]

Hmmmm...

Sounds like we should VETO any such Security Council motion , pending several years of debate, the sending of inspection teams, the sending of assistance in the form of a carload of condoms,a few fact-finding missions to Hawaii in January, etc.

[river rat]

To hear Sen. Bob Graham speak, is to hear a brain fart..

This clown is the guy who keeps a log of his EVERY action, including bowel movements....

He is an icon of what the Democrat party has become....power mad and incompetent lunatics.

Semper Fi

[MEG33]

The Belgians could lend a hand.The Russians could ,too.Where is Luxemberg in this? Mexico would be another.

[spodefly]

In the spirit of multinational cooperation, I hereby nominate France, Germany, and Russia to report directly to the Congo to settle all matters of dispute and secure the area posthaste.

[river rat]

The Congo is another screwed up previously French colony..
Let the French take responsibility for cleaning up their own damned mess...

They profited from playing games with peoples lives, let their soldiers die cleaning it up..

Semper Fi

[caisson71]

The Congo? Why doesn't KofEE send the Belgians or the French? Make then finish the job they screwed up in the first place.

[solo gringo]

Clinton Can handle this we have a country to run he has plenty of time on his hands.Mabe this will shut him up and he and mandela can rule the congo together along with france,Germany and Belgian.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Calling the coalition of the weasels, book on down to the Congo.

[tbpiper]

I think the mighty Belgian army ought to roll back into the Congo & take back their colony. Imagine those local savages fleeing before the awsome .....power..???.. of the Belgin.....~~~~~~ oh, never mind.

[tbpiper]

I say that the French should send their troops.

At least the fetid jungle environment will camoflage their natural aroma.

[Porterville]

Nothing will happen, the UN will come in next year after the large scale massacre.

[tbpiper]

Is it clear that Graham is about my least favorite politico

He plans to go work a day as a terrorist so he can understand them better. Maybe the jehadis will put him the work testing suici.....martyrdom vests.