UN to make small cut in Congo peacekeeping force

By Patrick Worsnip

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Security Council on Friday authorized the withdrawal of up to 2,000 troops from the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo in the next month but made no pledge on further cuts despite pressure from Kinshasa.

Potential investors and human rights groups fear a too hasty withdrawal of the 20,500-member MONUC force would trigger more violence in a country struggling to recover from a 1998-2003 war and which is still battling rebels across its territory.

But Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila wants the force out by next year for what U.N. officials say are reasons of national pride.

A resolution passed unanimously by the 15-nation Security Council authorized "the withdrawal of up to 2,000 United Nations military personnel by 30 June 2010 from areas where the security situation permits."

The resolution extended the mandate of MONUC -- currently the largest U.N. peace force anywhere in the world -- until the end of June, and said it would then be renamed MONUSCO, a French acronym adding the word "stabilization" to its title.

MONUSCO was authorized to stay in Congo for an additional year, and the council said future reductions in the force would be determined by conditions on the ground.

Congo's government is battling guerrilla groups including the Rwandan Hutu FDLR and the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army in the turbulent east.

Aid workers say Congolese army troops, as well as guerrilla groups, have committed atrocities, including murders, rapes and robberies, on civilians in eastern Congo, where competition to exploit valuable minerals combines with ethnic tensions.   Continued...