Congo-Kinshasa: Kabila Wants 20,000 UN Peacekeepers

DRC President Joseph Kabila on Monday expressed disappointment with the UN peace effort saying the organisation should send 20,000 peacekeepers to his country, news organisations reported. "The commitment [from the UN] is not what we really expected. The commitment is lacking in terms of personnel and resources," Kabila told Reuters and CNN journalists in an interview. "We should look at what happened elsewhere, in places such as Kosovo. We certainly need nothing less than 20,000 peacekeepers but I will leave it to the United Nations in New York to work out what they think is a realistic figure." So far, the UN has deployed some 1,300 observers to back the DRC peace process.

He also said he would like the internal dialogue finished by end of this year. "I would like to see elections by the year 2002. I count on the Congolese people and I believe they are receptive to this." Kabila added that the preliminary report on his the assassination of his father, Laurent-Desire Kabila, would be made public this week.

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