[allAfrica.com]  [Africa_2003]


French Troops Leave Congo Next Week

The Monitor (Kampala)
NEWS
August 27, 2003
Posted to the web August 27, 2003

By Alex B. Atuhaire
Kampala
The French-led multinational peacekeeping force mandated to pacify Bunia town
in eastern DR Congo pulls out next week.
Capt. Charie Vigilant, the force's press attaché, said yesterday the 1,500
troops would be out of Bunia by September 1 and will fly out of Entebbe Airbase
by September 15.
The French-led force comprises of Belgian and British troops. The UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan yesterday appealed to the Security Council to extend the
force's mandate in DR Congo.
Vigilant, however, said the troops have to leave.
"We have to leave. Our mandate is finally over. We are handing over to Task-
Force II under the Bangladeshi and Pakistani troops," he told The Monitor at
his Entebbe base.
The French troops have since June been leading the European force, under UN
mandate, stationed in Bunia, the commercial capital of Ituri region.
The French-led force has been referred to as Task Force I.
Ituri has been a trouble spot since foreign troops, including Uganda and
Rwanda, moved into DR Congo in 1998 to topple then president Laurent Kabila.
Violence between the ethnic majority Lendu and minority Hema peoples has
claimed an estimated 50,000 lives since 1999 and displaced a million others.
Mission accomplished
Capt. Vigilant said the troops' mandate has been ably executed because the
European force managed to restore total peace and calm in Bunia.
He said the force had not lost any soldier.
The French-led task force was confined to Bunia and was authorised to fire only
in self-defence.
Vigilant said the troops under Task Force I are pulling out to beat the
September I deadline.
Airbase busy
The section occupied by the troops at Entebbe Airbase is busy as soldiers
prepare to ship out.
Two AN-124 disengaging planes, which are normally used to carry troop fleets,
were parked at the airbase ready to fly the soldiers back.
Five French spy-planes, including one ATL-2 and four FI-CA's, had also been
withdrawn and are parked at the airbase.
The C-130 transport planes were still flying to DR Congo and would be used to
ferry the troops next week.
Enter Task Force II
About 2,000 peacekeepers, mainly from Uruguay and Bangladesh, are already in
Bunia under Task Force II.
Pakistani and Nepalese troops are expected to bring the total to 4,700 in
September.
Task Force II will be allowed to open fire and will have more firepower,
including attack helicopters.
Their mission is to sufficiently stabilise Bunia and will also operate in the
rest of Ituri province.

   

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