UN extends arms ban on Congo

The UN Security Council extended an arms embargo on Congo for a year as fighting continues between rival factions in the resource-rich east despite the presence of UN peacekeepers.

The resolution, which was adopted unanimously by the 15-nation council Tuesday, renewed an arms embargo imposed last year “in light of the failure by the parties to comply” with previous demands. The resolution asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to re-establish within 30 days a committee to investigate any violations of the embargo and said the panel should report to it before December 15.The Security Council also reiterated calls for neighbouring countries not to provide “direct or indirect assistance, especially military or financial assistance,” to armed groups opposed to a multiparty transitional government.A UN expert’s report presented to the Security Council last week accused Rwanda of giving “direct and indirect support” to the renegade troops.Congo has made steps toward peace since being embroiled in a five-year civil war, but tribal fighters still clash in the northeast Kivu and Ituri provinces.The UN mission in Congo warned earlier this month that it would use force if necessary to protect civilians in the Ituri province after tribal militias there broke a fledgling cease-fire.Armed factions from Hema and Lendu tribes are battling for control of land and resources, including gold, timber and coal.Large-scale fighting between the two groups in May and June 2003 killed at least 500 people, prompting the United Nations to beef up its deployment and give it an expanded mandate allowing the use of force to protect civilians.The latest tensions erupted in June when two renegade former Rwanda-backed rebel commanders seized Bukavu, a Congolese city at the Rwandan border.Government forces routed the rebels from Bukavu after a week, but running battles persisted in nearby towns.The original resolution, which banned the sale or transfer of arms and military equipment in the region “to all foreign and Congolese armed groups and militias operating in the territory of North and South Kivu and of Ituri” was adopted on July 28, 2003.The restrictions could be lifted if the demands, which include ensuring freedom of movement for peacekeepers, are met, Tuesday’s resolution said, adding the measures would be reviewed by October 1.The United Nations has 10 800 peacekeepers in Congo, helping the transitional government try to regain control and prepare for elections that could be held in less than two years.Congo’s war started in 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda backed Congolese rebels in a bid to overthrow Congo’s government, accusing it of harboring Hutu militias responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide.- Nampa-APThe resolution asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to re-establish within 30 days a committee to investigate any violations of the embargo and said the panel should report to it before December 15.The Security Council also reiterated calls for neighbouring countries not to provide “direct or indirect assistance, especially military or financial assistance,” to armed groups opposed to a multiparty transitional government.A UN expert’s report presented to the Security Council last week accused Rwanda of giving “direct and indirect support” to the renegade troops.Congo has made steps toward peace since being embroiled in a five-year civil war, but tribal fighters still clash in the northeast Kivu and Ituri provinces.The UN mission in Congo warned earlier this month that it would use force if necessary to protect civilians in the Ituri province after tribal militias there broke a fledgling cease-fire.Armed factions from Hema and Lendu tribes are battling for control of land and resources, including gold, timber and coal.Large-scale fighting between the two groups in May and June 2003 killed at least 500 people, prompting the United Nations to beef up its deployment and give it an expanded mandate allowing the use of force to protect civilians.The latest tensions erupted in June when two renegade former Rwanda-backed rebel commanders seized Bukavu, a Congolese city at the Rwandan border.Government forces routed the rebels from Bukavu after a week, but running battles persisted in nearby towns.The original resolution, which banned the sale or transfer of arms and military equipment in the region “to all foreign and Congolese armed groups and militias operating in the territory of North and South Kivu and of Ituri” was adopted on July 28, 2003.The restrictions could be lifted if the demands, which include ensuring freedom of movement for peacekeepers, are met, Tuesday’s resolution said, adding the measures would be reviewed by October 1.The United Nations has 10 800 peacekeepers in Congo, helping the transitional government try to regain control and prepare for elections that could be held in less than two years.Congo’s war started in 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda backed Congolese rebels in a bid to overthrow Congo’s government, accusing it of harboring Hutu militias responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide.- Nampa-AP