[Our government loves doing this sort of nonsense. They can’t run our own country but they LOVE sticking their noses into everyone else’s business. Jan]

CAPE TOWN “ The United Nations wants South Africa to send more troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to strengthen the UN peacekeeping mission (Monuc) there, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said yesterday.

He told Independent Newspapers last night that the request was made during this week’s security council deliberations on the volatile situation in the DRC.

“All countries who have contributed to peacekeeping in the DRC have been asked to strengthen Monuc,” he said.

Whether this would entail sending more troops, Pahad said it would be up to the Defence Ministry to say whether South Africa had the capacity to do so.

Briefing the National Assembly’s ad hoc committee on international affairs earlier in the day, Pahad said Monuc was sending 3700 peacekeeping troops to the eastern DRC, including soldiers from South Africa, Uruguay and Nepal.

South Africa already has 1200 troops deployed in the area.

“I think we can be happy that our troops have a high reputation. They are doing an excellent job and they play a very important role, he told MPs.

“It’s only our defence force that can recommend to cabinet whether we have the capacity and whether we should send troops.”

The defence ministry said yesterday no request had been taken to cabinet.

On whether South Africa would withdraw from the DRC if the situation deteriorated further, Pahad said that as it was a UN peacekeeping mission, the decision would be the UN’s.

However, the UN was talking about strengthening and not withdrawing.

Pahad also said the cost of the peacekeeping mission was been borne by the UN and not the South African taxpayer.

On soaring tensions between the DRC and Rwanda as troops from both countries mass on the border, Pahad said President Thabo Mbeki was in daily contact with presidents Joseph Kabila and Paul Kagame

“It’s about interacting with them both to convince them that another war is disastrous. Both gave us assurances that they are not going to attack each other, but are there to prevent more incursions from each other’s side.”

Mbeki was hoping to get both sides to a meeting and there was an unconfirmed report that Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo would host the pair.

“We need to ensure that we can get some understanding between these two forces,” Pahad said.

The UN security council on Tuesday warned Uganda, Burundi and Rawanda not to interefer in the DRC and called for restrain from all side.

Foreign news agencies said the security council had warned that “any attempt to disrupt the peace and transition process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including through support for armed groups, will not be tolerated”.

It urged Kinshasa and its three key eastern neighbours to “work together to reduce tensions and restore confidence in the region … including holding meetings at the earliest possible opportunity.”

The council also called on Kinshasa and Rwanda to establish a border security mechanism as soon as possible and asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to consider whether Monuc needed a rapid reaction capability to deal with the looming threat.

Source: The New Zealand Herald
URL: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?st…/p>