United Nations Radio

A week after the UN Security Council authorized a reinforcement of 3,000 troops for MONUC, the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it met to discuss a recommendation by the Secretary-General to extend the mission's mandate for 12 months, until the end of 2009.

Secretary-General's Special Representative for the DRC, Alan Doss told the Council that while diplomatic activity at the highest level has been initiated to help end the military confrontation between government and rebel forces, it is also necessary to establish a solid defensive posture to discourage new military action, in order to give the peace talks a chance to progress.

As the Council reviews MONUC's structure and its objectives, Mr. Doss, says it should take into account the role of the government troops, the FARDC, in the recent humanitarian crisis in the North Kivu region.

"The FARDC should be the first line of protection for the civilians, but they haven't done that and most recently in Goma, of course, involving FARDC, not so much organized units, but deserters and those who had left their units, and so forth, and that is a big concern, because our mandate calls on us always to assist the FARDC in its responsibilities, so I think this is something the Council will pay careful attention to, as it considers the renewal of our mandate."

Alan Doss added that until the additional troops arrive, the mission would welcome an additional stand-by capacity in case the security situation deteriorates again. European nations are discussing the possibility of contributing to a 'bridging' force for the DRC.

Reporting for UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

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