News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

On 7 February Monuc rescued a barge that just began sinking in Maïta, a district situated 56 kilometers from Mbandaka, with approximately 200 passengers on board. MONUC team dispatched to the scene of the disaster the same day, carried to Mbandaka about 133 passengers comprised of 45 women, 64 men…

MONUC Tunisian Military Contingent member, Hammouda Ben Hamma Zammazi, passed away this Wednesday, 4 February 2004, in Kinshasa, following heart failure. Caporal Chef Zammazi joined MONUC on 4 October 2003. As a Tunisian Military Contingent member, he was an Assistant Radio Operator within the…

MONUC evacuated approximately 280 passengers on 2 February to Mbandaka after surviving a fire which broke out in a whaleboat on 29 January, in Lukolela, a village situated 150 km South of Mbandaka. Two MONUC speedboats and one helicopter were dispatched to Lukolela upon receiving the news about the…

The 29 January explosion from the motorcade of General Padiri (commander of the 9th military region) in Kisangani is accidental. This is the finding made by the Board of enquiry put in place after the incident, comprising MONUC representatives, Congolese National Army and high-ranking police…

MONUC dispatched two speedboats and one helicopter to Lukolela on Friday, 30 January 2004, 185 km from Mbandaka where a whaleboat carrying approximately 500 people caught fire and sank on 26 January. A preliminary toll reports that 301 passengers made it safely to shore, while there is reported one…

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the DRC, William Lacy Swing, was present at the inauguration of two renovated premises, funded by MONUC Quick Impact Programme, on Friday 23 January 2004 in Kisangani: One center, intended for the deaf, known as "Centre Espoir…

MONUC troops have come under several armed attacks these recent days in Ituri. On Wednesday, 21 January 2004, at about 19 hours, militiamen opened fire on the UN Pakistani peacekeepers in Nizi, 28 km North of Bunia. UN helicopters and peacekeepers in Ituri were also attacked at Drodro and Iga…

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the DRC, William Swing, summoned UPC (Union des Patriotes Congolais) leader, Thomas Lubanga, Wednesday to officially apprise him of Monuc indignation at the numerous attacks perpetrated by UPC against MONUC troops these recent…

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, William Lacy Swing, describes the 16 January 2004 attack on MONUC helicopter near Kasenyi village, 50 km South of Bunia as « very serious and unacceptable». The elements of the Front des…

Thirty vehicles covered, Tuesday 13 January, the 48 Km-road linking Bunia to Kasenyi, to mark the official inauguration of the rehabilitated road within the framework of a partnership between MONUC and ?Agro Action Allemande?, a German Non Governmental organization. In Kasenyi, along lake Albert, in…

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, William Lacy Swing, declared Tuesday in Kinshasa that, as indicated by the UN experts during their recent mission, it was technically possible to organize elections in 2005. Mr. Swing made…

On 28 December 2003, MONUC repatriated 151 Burundian ex-combatants and 10 dependants to their country of origin. Those Burundian ex-combatants belonging to the FDD and the FLN were gradually cantoned during the last eleven months, since February 2003, at MONUC?s transit center at Adi Kivu, situated…