CONGO: AN ADVANCE PARTY OF FRENCH TROOPS ARRIVE IN BUNIA TO STOP BLOODLETTING AMONG RIVAL MILITIAS
Record ID:
584870
CONGO: AN ADVANCE PARTY OF FRENCH TROOPS ARRIVE IN BUNIA TO STOP BLOODLETTING AMONG RIVAL MILITIAS
- Title: CONGO: AN ADVANCE PARTY OF FRENCH TROOPS ARRIVE IN BUNIA TO STOP BLOODLETTING AMONG RIVAL MILITIAS
- Date: 6th June 2003
- Summary: (W5) BUNIA, CONGO (JUNE 6, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV FRENCH SOLDIERS DRIVING TO THE UNITED NATIONS MISSION ON CONGO (MONUC) HEADQUARTERS IN BUNIA TOWN 0.04 2. SV FRENCH SOLDIERS ALIGHTING FROM VEHICLE 0.08 3. SV FRENCH SOLDIER WALKING / DISPLACED PEOPLE IN BUNIA TOWN 0.11 4. SV FRENCH SOLDIERS WALKING PAST WITH PEOPLE FROM DISPLACED CAMPS CHEERING 0.16 5. SV FRENCH SOLDIERS ON GUARD AND PEOPLE CHEERING BEHIND SECURITY FENCE 0.22 6. SLV DISPLACED PEOPLE CHEERING 0.28 7. SV WOMAN CHEERING AND WAVING GARMENT 0.30 8. SV YOUNGSTERS CHEERING 0.34 9. SV GROUP OF MEN CHEERING 0.37 10. MCU (Kiswahili) UNIDENTIFIED DISPLACED WOMAN, SAYING: "Today we are very very happy. We have had no food because we are staying in the camps. So when we heard that the French had arrived, we came out to cheer them up." 0.49 11. MCU (Kiswahili) UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN SAYING: "I am so happy my friend, and we are all happy to see the French come. We will have no more killings anymore and the French are going to take care of us and our children and all our property." 1.00 12. SLV FRENCH SOLDIERS ON GUARD AND DISPLACED PEOPLE ON OTHER SIDE OF SECURITY FENCE 1.04 13. SV ARMED FRENCH SOLDIER ON GUARD 1.08 14. SV ARMED SOLDIER AND PEOPLE LOOKING ON (2 SHOTS) 1.12 15. SLV FRENCH SOLDIERS ON GUARD WITH MONUC GROUP OF PEACEKEEPERS (2 SHOTS) 1.18 (U3) BUNIA, CONGO (JUNE 6, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 16. SLV WIDE OF FRENCH SOLDIERS WALKING PAST UNITED NATIONS SOLDIER AT BUNIA AIRPORT RUNWAY 1.23 17. SV BACK VIEW OF FRENCH SOLDIERS GUARDING HELICOPTER 1.28 18. SV ARMED FRENCH SOLDIERS ON GUARD 1.32 19. SV TWO FRENCH SOLDIERS ON GUARD 1.35 20. PAN OF SOLDIER 1.41 21. SV OF FRENCH SOLDIERS ON GUARD 1.47 22. SV AT BUNIA AIRPORT CHECKPOINT FRENCH SOLDIERS ON TOP OF TRUCK 1.55 23. MCU (French) HEAD OF ADVANCE PARTY, FRENCH SOLDIER SAYING: "In two or three days, we will have enough men on the ground to help us prepare the technicality and security that will allow the deployment of the bulk of the force in the coming days." 2.12 24. SV ARMED FRENCH SOLDIER ON GUARD 2.16 25. SLV MORE OF SOLDIER WITH UNITED NATIONS TRUCK IN BACKGROUND 2.18 26. SLV FRENCH SOLDIER ON GUARD WITH VARIOUS OF BUNIA RESIDENTS 2.24 27. SLV BUNIA RESIDENTS ON OTHER SIDE OF FENCE 2.30 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 21st June 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BUNIA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
- City:
- Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of
- Reuters ID: LVA3IKWLQGE35QJ2LII704Z0EJAF
- Story Text: An advance party of French troops arrived in Congo's
embattled town of Bunia in the first deployment of a
1,400-strong rapid reaction force mandated to stop
bloodletting among rival militias.
An advance party of French troops arrived to cheers
from residents in Congo's Bunia town on Friday (June 6) in the
first deployment of a 1,400-strong rapid reaction force to
stop bloodletting among rival militias.
Hundreds of residents outside a U.N. base in the middle of
Bunia cheered and clapped as a van of French troops drove in
from the airport.
"Today we are very very happy. We have had no food because
we are staying in the camps. So when we heard that the French
had arrived, we came out to cheer them up," said a jubilant
woman who had come to see the French.
"I am so happy my friend, and we are all happy to see the
French come. We will have no more killings anymore and the
French are going to take care of us and our children and all
our property," said another woman.
Two planeloads of French soldiers flew in with Jeep-type
reconnaissance vehicles and light weapons shortly after dawn
to Bunia, a dilapidated settlement of more than 200,000 people
near the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) border with
Uganda.
The arrivals numbered about 100 and some of the troops
immediately began patrolling the perimeter of the airstrip.
A senior French officer in Bunia said he did not envisage
leaving the airport much in coming days as his men would be
busy preparing it for the arrival of the rest of the
deployment including its commanding officer.
"In two or three days, we will have enough men on the
ground to help us prepare the technicality and security that
will allow the deployment of the bulk of the force in the
coming days," said Head of the advance party, who refused to
give his name.
He added that the force's task was to secure Bunia town
and the airport.
About five British troops also arrived on Friday (June 6)
on a reconnaissance mission to prepare for a possible larger
UK involvement, a U.N. spokesman said.
A 700-strong U.N. mission is in the region, but its
mandate is limited and militias linked to the Hema and Lendu
tribes have killed hundreds despite their presence.
Militiamen from both sides, often intoxicated with drugs
or alcohol, have also raped and looted and forced thousands of
civilians from Bunia, a dilapidated settlement of more than
200,000 people near the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC)
border with Uganda.
Though Bunia is largely quiet, unconfirmed reports suggest
rebels are still carrying out executions in the town.
The 1,400-strong force has been approved by the U.N.
Security Council and will include some 1,000 French troops,
backed by fighter jets based in the region.
The rest of the force will come from other European Union
nations and countries such as Canada and South Africa. Its
mission will end on September 1.
The main militia in Bunia, the Rwandan-backed Hema Union
of Patriotic Congolese (UPC), is expected to hand over control
of the town once the force completes its deployment.
But U.N. officials say the UPC wants to keep in place its
700 fighters in the town in order to protect Hema leaders. It
is unclear whether this will be acceptable to the French-led
force.
The wider war in the DRC, now gradually subsiding, began
in 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda invaded eastern Congo to help
rebel groups fight the Kinshasa government, which was propped
up by troops from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia.
The conflict has led to the deaths of an estimated three
million people, mostly through disease and starvation.
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