New York - United Nations officials on Monday rejected charges of incompetence by UN peacekeepers deployed at some northern and eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo where fighting has created fresh humanitarian crisis. Some media reports in Europe and The New York Times criticized the 17,000-strong UN Mission in Congo, known as MONUC, of being powerless in the face of intensified attacks by armed rebels against government troops.
The fighting displaced a reported 250,000 Congolese, prompting relief groups to rush food and medical supplies.
UN Undersecretary General Alain Le Roy of France said through a teleconference from the Congolese city of Goma that the criticism was "unfair" while the UN special envoy for Congo, Alan Doss, said it was a "disservice" to international troops who risked their lives in the areas.
"It's deeply unfair to those at the frontlines," Doss said. "We found ourselves caught between the two sides."
Le Roy said there are 5,500 peacekeepers in North Kivu trying to protect 10 million Congolese living in a territory that is half the size of France.
"We are doing what we can," he said.
Le Roy travelled to Congo to discuss the situation with the government in Kinshasa and made the comments in a televised press conference with reporters at UN headquarters in New York. UN officials in Congo also took part in the conference, saying that the UN's priority in Congo is to protect the civilians, but it is overwhelmed by the lack of logistics and manpower.
They reported calm in Goma and North Kivu, where a ceasefire had been declared and a curfew imposed. They said UN peacekeepers now patrol the streets of those cities and reported normal daily activities by local businesses.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday reappointed Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye of Senegal as acting force commander for MONUC after the official commander from Spain resigned after seven months on the job, complaining that MONUC cannot handle the situation.
The European Union was planning to dispatch a military force to assist the UN peacekeeping operation.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in Marseille Monday that new rules of military engagement are necessary for the UN peacekeepers that would allow them to use force to end the fighting.
"The rules of engagement now are very restrictive," Kouchner said ahead of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in the southern French city of Marseille. "We can not have soldiers there who are not allowed to shoot. I'm not saying we should make war. But we should be able to carry out defensive missions."
France is hosting the meeting because it currently holds the rotating six-month EU presidency.
Kouchner also raised the possibility that more troops may need to be deployed to the strife-torn country to protect the estimated 1.5 million people displaced by fierce fighting in the east of the country.
"Do we need more soldiers there? Possibly. Perhaps we need a different kind of soldier," he suggested.
Kouchner said conditions for the refugees in camps in the eastern North Kivu province were "deplorable" because relief aid cannot get through to them.
