Nigeria's former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has been tapped as a mediator; he immediately called for MONUC to be beefed up.
"For now, a tenuous peace is holding, but the crisis in eastern DR Congo remains on the edge," says Commanding Officer for MONUC, Colonel Chand Saroha.
In May 2007, President Kabila approved the UN's mapping exercise when the then High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, and the head of MONUC, Ambassador William Lacy Swing, presented the proposal.
Invoking sovereignty, he has called for the UN Mission (MONUC) to withdraw by summer 2011 and has announced that the Congolese government will take charge of organizing the presidential elections scheduled for late 2011.
Three months ago, militiamen burned 17 people to death while a detachment of MONUC troops 200 metres away, whose mandate authorised them to use force to prevent such massacres, did nothing.
The anaemic and glacial pace and the death-like bureaucracy continue to allow and, in the case of Monuc and the security council, even help facilitate a deathly regional war.
Despite the common knowledge that Ntaganda – a wanted accused war criminal – was acting as de facto deputy commander for Congolese forces during Kimia II, Monuc's command hid behind transparently false Congolese government assurances that Ntaganda was not involved.
MONUC also reports plans for a summit of Great Lakes leaders on Friday, but relief organizations including Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says armed aid convoys to Goma and Rutshuru are posing a risk to relief work.
The role of the United Nations The mandate for the United Nations mission in DRC, or MONUC, clearly prioritizes civilian protection, but their presence is thinly stretched in Haut Uele.
"Addressing this problem requires close coordination between Government Forces, MONUC and child protection partners for effective protection on the ground, as well as a concerted regional response," she said.
MONUC's head, Alan Doss, has asked for a temporary deployment of 2,000 more police and special-forces soldiers to shore up his defences.
