This is the some Museveni engaged in "double mouth" talk. I do not think any force, no matter how large, will contain the situation in Ituri DRC Congo.
As long as Museveni continues to exert influence on Lendu/Hema rebels and supply these fighters with weapons( many of which is shipped at night into Itruri region) the fighting in Ituri will simply get out of hand.
I can fore see a situation in which the so called UN peace keeping troops sent to enforce peace in Ituri, involved in Guerilla fights with the numerous Hutu/Hema/Lendu rebels groups in the Jungles of Ituri.
If I were the French, I would think twice before permiting French troops to deploy in Ituri.
Matek
Congo Needs a Large Force, Says Museveni
New Vision (Kampala)
May 28, 2003
Posted to the web May 28, 2003
Vision Reporter
Kampala
DR Congo needs a large and well equipped peace-keeping force that can ensure the restoration of peace, President Yoweri Museveni has advised.
He said the force will also help the country put the transitional government in place, build a Congolese national army to contain the situation and enable the Congolese refugees to go back home.
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Museveni made the recommendations at a meeting with the United Nations Under-Secretary General responsible for peace-keeping operations, Mr. Jean Marie Guehenno, at the President's Kisozi farm in Mpigi district on Monday.
State House said in a statement that the President and the UN official reviewed the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), especially the crisis in the Ituri sub-region. They also discussed the peace process in Burundi.
The statement adds, "The President urged the UN to do all that is possible to ensure peace and stability prevail in the DRC, especially in Ituri sub-region where innocent people are being killed in ethnic fighting.
He said Congo is a big country with a large population and commands a big regional potential for economic development.
Museveni proposed in addition to peace-keeping, the UN should defend non-combatants caught up in conflicts, defend relief aid and discipline armed factions.
Guehenno told Museveni that he was optimistic that the situation in Ituri would be contained because a number of countries including Britain and France had shown interest in sending troops to join the UN peace-keeping force in Ituri sub-region.
Guehenno, who has already visited Kinshasa, Kisangani and Bunia agreed that the 800 peace-keeping force in Bunia was too small to control the situation.
