Annan urges use of sanctions threat to end Congo war
Steven Edwards
UNITED NATIONS - Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General, pressed the Security Council yesterday to get tough with countries fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, suggesting economic sanctions should be imposed if they don't withdraw their armies.
The Security Council should start by targeting Rwanda and Uganda, who continue to battle each other in the northeastern Congolese town of Kisangani, despite attempts to broker a ceasefire. The Secretary-General added that plans to send a UN mission of 5,500 military observers, soldiers and administrative staff to Congo should be reviewed to ensure it does not suffer the same fate that recently befell UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone.
The 9,000-strong force in Sierra Leone was poorly equipped and inadequately trained to deal with the volatile situation in the West African country. Rebels killed several peacekeepers and took another 500 hostage. Units scheduled to be dispatched to Congo are already suffering "serious logistical deficiencies," Mr. Annan said.
Morocco, Pakistan and Senegal have each promised to send a battalion of 800 soldiers. More troops are expected from South Africa.
But the Secretary-General, who must decide when to deploy the troops, is unwilling to send any forces to Congo until he is sure they can cope with local conditions, said Fred Eckhard, his chief press spokesman.
Tomorrow, Mr. Annan's special envoy to Congo, General Kamel Morjane, will brief the Security Council on his assessment of the situation there.
On Friday, the 15 members will be able to air their views on the matter at an open meeting, then meet privately with their political committee overseeing the Congolese peace agreement signed in Lusaka, Zambia, last July.
Last weekend, Mr. Annan expressed "deep indignation and shock" at the renewed "senseless fighting" between Rwanda and Uganda in Kisangani, an important diamond and timber centre.
The two countries -- former allies in their backing of disparate forces opposing Congo's President, Laurent Kabila -- had promised to withdraw from the town to make way for its occupation by UN peacekeeping forces.
In his report, Mr. Annan said the Security Council should order the two countries out of Congo under a UN "Chapter VII" statute. This authorizes the world body to enforce its will through diplomatic and economic sanctions or military action.
The military option is not possible because the UN has only about 200 military observers, including a Canadian Armed Forces officer, in Congo.
But graduated penalties, from mild diplomatic sanctions to increasingly tough economic sanctions, could be imposed.
The latter would have some bite for Rwanda, whose economy is enjoying one of the fastest rates of growth in Africa, thanks to international aid for reconstruction projects after the 1994 genocide. The Secretary-General's recommendation goes further than calls under the Lusaka agreement for all foreign forces to quit Congo. According to that agreement, withdrawal depended on the disarmament of the numerous militia groups operating in the country, including ones opposed to Rwanda and Uganda.
Now Mr. Annan says Rwanda and Uganda must leave whether militia groups opposed to them are disarmed or not.
In his view, the two countries are no longer in Congo to contain the militia groups, but to exert economic, military and political control over areas they have captured.
His report calls for the Security Council to demand the "subsequent early withdrawal of all other foreign forces ... as foreseen in the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement."
This call is directed at Angola, Nambia and Zimbabwe, which have sided with Mr. Kabila.
At least 1.7 million people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the two years since former president Mobutu Sese Seko was overthrown by Mr. Kabila, who promised to restore democracy to Congo.