Democratic Republic of Congo; Kuwaiti and Third

Country Nationals

                   

 

                    We had a briefing from Assistant Secretary-General, Annabi to follow-up the

                    Secretary-General’s recent report on the DRC, and are in the middle of an

                    interesting discussion of our overall strategy towards the DRC leading up of

                    course to the proposed mission which will start around the 16 May from New

                    York to the Great Lakes region.

 

                    While welcoming the progress that has been made so far in the

                    disengagement of forces under the agreements that have been signed

                    between the parties. And there were two recent plus points recently that the

                    difficulties we had both with the FLC and Mr Bemba and with the RCD Goma

                    with the Ambassadors from Kinshasa meeting Mr Onosumba yesterday in

                    Goma have been resolved successful and that adds to the progress. But

                    members of the Council expect all parties to live up fully to their commitments

                    under the disengagement agreements, cooperate unreservedly with MONUC

                    in taking forward these plans, and not least in drawing up realistic plans which

                    are due by 15 May for the complete withdrawal of foreign troops from the DRC

                    as resolution 1304 asks for. And we also want to see realistic plans for a

                    Demobilisation Disarmament Reconcilation and Reintegration (DDRR)

                    process and we have seen the importance of that in the Sierra Leone in other

                    context. It is going to be vital for the DRC.

 

                    But secondly also, members of the Council, and indeed we have seen this

                    from the Secretary-General, are deeply disturbed by the continuing reports of

                    horrific violence particularly in the eastern part of the DRC. The

                    Secretary-General’s report refers to this violence in some areas as having

                    almost a genocidal character which casts a nasty echo back from previous

                    history. Resolution 1341 calls on all parties to Lusaka to cease support for

                    these armed rebel groups that are mainly responsible for the continuing local

                    horrific violence on humanitarian abuse and that assistance has got to stop,

                    and the parties have got to come up with plans to cease the activities of the

                    armed rebel groups that are not signatories to the Lusaka. It is a very

                    important part of the story to come and the Council is not going to let go of it.

                    So the mission will focus on these two areas very particularly when we go in

                    the second half of May. I will also remind you that the Secretary-General has

                    invited the Council to a retreat in the Pocantico Hills on the 4-5 May where the

                    subject will be the Great Lakes region. So policy discussion will continue.

 

                    On the Kuwaiti and third country nationals missing, we had a very good and

                    full briefing from the High-Level Coordinator, Ambassador Vorontsov. This is

                    one area where the Council is unanimous on Iraq in support for the work of

                    Ambassador Vorontsov and for his future in continuing efforts, and also in

                    expressing deep concern at the plight of the Kuwaiti and third country

                    nationals still recorded missing. And in expressing their hope that there will at

                    some stage soon, and at last, be some progress in what is a strictly

                    humanitarian issue. It has no direct connection with the other parts of the Iraq

                    issue on our agenda. And there was deep concern that there has been no

                    movement whatsoever since the High-Level Coordinator’s last report when all

                    of us, from Ambassador Vorontsov’s onwards, are convinced that there is

                    more information to be given from the Iraqi side. So members of the Council

                    stressed the importance of continuing dialogue amongst all parties on this,

                    including with the involvement of the ICRC and the Tripartite Commission and

                    urged Iraq fully to cooperate with Ambassador Vorontsov and with all other

                    agencies and bodies dealing with the issue. They were very keen that when

                    member states and the Secretariat had contacts with Iraq that this issue

                    should continue to be brought up, and must be ground away at until we have

                    some results on something that has taken far too long with a zero still against

                    it.

 

                    (Question about new ideas about breaking the impasse)

 

                    Nothing specifically new to what he has proposed before. The main

                    recommendation remains from him pressure on Iraq to produce information.

 

                    (Question about the missing Saudi and US pilots)

 

                    I think we need to refer to particular cases. You referred to pilots, part of

                    whose bodies have been produced, but clearly there had to be more to be

                    produced than there were. I think it came up in the margins of the Arab

                    Summit. I think those who have the best channels to Iraq are probably the

                    neighbours and the Arab world, but also international workers, heads of

                    international organisations concerned with this keep on bringing it up because

                    this is a humanitarian issue and not a political one, dnd international pressure

                    I think is the only way to get a change on this item.

 

                    (Question about the next phase of the Congo deployment and the vulnerability

                    of UN troops in Congo.)

 

                    It is in the minds of Council members, quite clearly from the discussion that

                    we have had so far. You will remember that the Secretary-General pointed out

                    in his report that it will be very difficult for the United Nations and for MONUC

                    to respond to the call for complete protection of civilians because they do not

                    have the numbers; to the expectation from the Political Committee and the

                    Joint Military Committee that MONUC should take up the disarming of armed

                    groups which again is a very complex subject. I think members of the Council

                    recognise the complexity of this and the difficulty for a traditional UN

                    peacekeeping force to respond in that way. We are going to take this up on

                    the mission and talk with the parties about this but there was a feeling that

                    the expectations coming out of the Lusaka signatories on this. Those

                    particular issues that you raise should be lowered.

 

                    (Question about the Security Council mission to the DRC)

 

                    We are expecting the mission to go to the capitals of virtually all signatories

                    to the Lusaka Agreement if their leaders are available. So we will go to Kigali

                    and Kampala as part of that. There will undoubtedly be discussion of what you

                    referred to, which was clearly the recent Expert Panel report. I do not think

                    there is any dispute between any Lusaka signatories and the Security

                    Council. Remember that the Expert Panel was an independent panel. It was

                    not the UN speaking, or the Secretary-General or the Security Council

                    speaking; it is an expert panel commissioned by the Secretary-General at the

                    request of the Security Council that has offered facts, advice and

                    recommendations. And therefore discussion and for a later decision by the

                    Council and that will be including with the parties who have been mentioned in

                    the report.

 

                    (Question about the Middle East)

 

                    The Secretary-General himself is highly active. The Security Council supports

                    him and therefore he is in contact with the Presidency of the Council at any

                    time to see what the Security Council is saying, or what they want to do. This

                    will be the basis for discussion, including with the parties mentioned, and a

                    later decision by the Council.