DR CONGO / SECURITY COUNCIL

The Security Council mission led by French Ambassador Gerard Araud arrives in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are scheduled to meet with President Joseph Kabila tomorrow in the Bas-Congo Province. MONUC

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:43
• Production Date: 14 May 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS OBSERVER MISSSION IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO - MONUC
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; DISARMAMENT
• Geographic Subject: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
• MAMS Id: U100514a

Description

STORY: DR CONGO / SECURITY COUNCIL
TRT: 1.43
SOURCE: MONUC
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 14 MAY 2010, KINSHASA, DRC

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, plane arriving
12. Wide Shot, SRSG Aland Doss walking
3. Wide Shot, Security Council members getting out of the plane
4. Med shot, SRSG Alan Doss welcomes Security Council members
5. Med shot, SRSG Alan Doss welcomes more Security Council members
6. Wide shot, Security Council members walking on the runway.
7. Med shot, Security Council getting off the bus
8. Wide shot, Security Council members enter the building
9. Med shot, Prime Minister staff welcomes Security Council members
10. Med shot, Security Council members in meeting room
11. Various shots, DRC authorities in meeting room
12. Med shot, DRC Prime Minister Muzito arrives to the meeting room.
13. Close up, Prime Minister Muzito giving reading Statement
14. Wide Shot, DRC authorities and Security Council members photo-op
15. Med shot, French Ambassador Gerard Araud shaking hands with DRC Prime Minister Muzito
16. SOUNDBITE (French) Gerard Araud, Permanent Representative of France, United Nations:
“We are here to listen to the DRC, and the questions raised concerning the future of MONUC are not only schedule related. It is a mission to listen and to understand; we want to build a partnership with the DRC. We know that MONUC will not remain indefinitely in the DRC, but when it goes, the DRC will have to be able to assure its sovereignty on the whole territory.”
17. Wide Shot, Security Council members leaving office of DRC Prime Minister

Storyline

Members of the Security Council arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where they met with senior government officials, representatives of civil society and the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force (MONUC) serving in the African nation.

During the two-day visit, which was postponed from earlier this year due to the disruptions to air travel caused by the Icelandic volcano eruption, the Council are expected to hold talks with President Joseph Kabila and his key ministers.

Members will also hold discussions with senior officials of MONUC, which has been helping to bring peace to most of the vast African nation since 1999.

MONUC peacekeepers have, among other things, been providing logistical support to the Congolese national army in its operations against Rwandan Hutu rebels and other insurgent groups in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu.

The Council often makes periodic visits to different areas where UN peace operations are deployed. The current visit, led by Ambassador Gerard Araud of France, comes at a time when the future of MONUC is being determined.

Araud told reporters that “MONUC will not remain indefinitely in the DRC, but when it goes, the DRC will have to be able to assure its sovereignty on the whole territory.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recommended in his latest report that the 20,000-strong force begin a drawdown of troops by 30 June. The Government has proposed a total withdrawal of the peacekeeping forces by 30 August 2011.

Council members are seeking to obtain a first-hand understanding of the MONUC’s status in the DRC before extending or revising its current mandate, which expires at the end of May.