The use of force alone will not bring about a solution to the problems in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as clashes between the government troops and rebels continue in North Kivu, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping force said Wednesday.
Alan Doss, head of the UN mission in Congo (MONUC), told a news conference in Kinshasa that the solution lies in implementing the proposed disengagement plan which includes three phases: an immediate ceasefire and separation of forces, disarmament and demobilization and a return to civilian life, according to a UN press release.
The plan also foresees a redeployment of the national armed forces (FARDC) to garrisons and the gradual deployment of the national police.
"Only in this way can we hope to put an end to the armed conflict, reduce violence against women and children and facilitate the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced people to their homes," said Doss, who is also the UN secretary-general’s special representative for the DRC.
Last week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the rebel National Congress for People's Defense (CNDP) and the Congolese government to immediately observe an effective ceasefire and cooperate with UN peacekeepers to achieve a separation of forces.
The continued fighting between the FARDC and the CNDP is in violation of a peace deal signed in January and "adds to the suffering of the civilian population and risks provoking wider conflict in the region," Ban said in a statement.
More than 150,000 people have fled fighting between government forces and rebels in eastern DRC in the past six weeks, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has said.
Source:Xinhua
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