Security Council move on force for Zaire expected

THE UNITED Nations Security Council is reported to be about to call an emergency meeting to sanction a multinational military…

THE UNITED Nations Security Council is reported to be about to call an emergency meeting to sanction a multinational military force for Zaire, to help more than a million starving refugees.

Meanwhile, nine aid agencies, including Trocaire and Concern, faced major hold ups at the hands of the Rwandan army and Zairean rebels as they tried to bring food and medical supplies into Goma in eastern Zaire. No aid was distributed as a result, and the agencies will try again this morning.

International condemnation of the Security Council's weekend postponement of a decision has put pressure on its members to agree to send a force as soon as possible. Yesterday, a meeting of the Organisation of African Unity strongly condemned the lack of UN action.

The European Union has also been sharply critical of the delay, with the EU Commissioner for humanitarian affairs, Ms Emma Bonino, calling it "a scandal". Ms Bonino and the Minister of State for development, Ms Joan Burton, were in Kigali yesterday as part of an EU troika mission.

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The UN special envoy to the region, Mr Raymond Chretien, told the EU delegation he believed a Security Council decision to send the force was inevitable, and would happen within hours, or possibly days. All parties to the conflict, including Zaire and Rwanda, have agreed to the principle of sending in an international force. Its mandate and composition remain to be decided.

One scenario would limit its role to policing a humanitarian aid operation. Rwanda and the EU favour giving it a wider role of encouraging refugees to return to Rwanda, and providing security for them. It would also separate the armed Hutu militias from ordinary refugees in Zaire. Rwanda wants to bring the bulk of the refugees home when the armed militias have been separated.

The Rwandan government told the EU delegation that no country, with a history in the region - specifically Belgium or France - should be allowed to dominate the force. This seems to leave open the possibility that French or Belgian troops could have a role in the force.

Ms Burton and her delegation will travel today to Gisenyi, on the border with Zaire, where aid agencies trying to help the refugees are based. Several hundred refugees returned to Rwanda through the town in recent days. They have reported that some have already (died from starvation or disease, and the Hutu militias have shot a number of refugees trying to go (back to Rwanda.