[allAfrica.com]


EUFOR Will Not Be Able to Intervene in the DRC After November 30

United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
NEWS
November 17, 2006
Posted to the web November 17, 2006

By Nina Yacoubian

The President of the military Committee of the European Union, General Henri
Bentégeat, declared on November 17, 2006, at the time of his visit to the
European troops in DRC, that it will still have "important capacities of
action" left in Kinshasa until December 15 at least.
Even if "the legal conditions of EUFOR intervention to aid MONUC after November
30 are not met, there will not be a vacuum of security after November 30,"
General Bentégeat underlined.
He also reassured the Congolese that EUFOR is not the only international force
present in the DRC and that MONUC is more important. "MONUC reinforces their
means in the most sensitive zones and assures in a certain gradual manner the
withdrawal of the positions held today by the European Union," he said.
The departures of the troops will be spread out, he added, between December 1
and 31, and "the greatest part of the capacities of action will remain until
December 15, then the capacities will decrease quickly after this date".
In case where there will be problems after the publication of the results by
the Supreme Court of justice, "the general conditions in which EUFOR operates
would change and at this time it would be up to the international community to
make the decisions".
The European action will continue its presence near the people and of the
Congolese security forces through the missions of the EUSEC and the EUPOL which
will increase the training and equipment of the Congolese police force through
the "reforms of the whole of the Congolese security forces"
Javier Solana, the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign & Security
Policy (CFSP), congratulated president Kabila during a telephone interview
yesterday, and "ensured the availability of the European Union to continue to
work, at the sides of the Congolese authorities, for the immense task of
rebuilding the DRC, a country that is key to the future of the stability of
Africa."


===============================================================================
 Copyright © 2006 United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
 All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
===============================================================================