Army rangers set for Congo force

IRELAND is to offer a crack force of army rangers to the EU-led mission to the Congo at a special meeting in Paris tomorrow.

The union has formally approved a 1,500-strong force that will be its first peace-keeping mission outside Europe and only its second mission overall.

A Government spokesperson said that Defence Minister Michael Smith was happy to offer the army’s special force for the Congo.

The offer will be made at tomorrow’s meeting and will also depend on Dáil approval.

The army has had a troubled history in the region.

In the 1960s, 27 Irish peace keepers were killed in the Congo during the army’s first major foreign assignment.

More than 30 army personnel worked in Rwanda after the genocide there nine years ago.

Whether Ireland’s offer is accepted or not will depend on the needs of the multinational force being put together under French command.

The six-month long operation has been described by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana as difficult and risky.

Rights organisations estimate that 2.5 million people have been killed, either as a direct result of fighting or because of disease and malnutrition during the four-year conflict.

According to the UN more than 50,000 people have been killed in the Ituri region in the east of Congo close to Rwanda and Uganda in the past four years.

There are an estimated 500,000 refugees in the region and several atrocities have been reported recently.

Renewed fighting among rebel groups backed by neighbouring governments is threatening the peace agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo according to experts and destabilising the entire Great Lakes region.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan asked for a force to stabilise the region months ago, but the response was too slow.

Some 5,000 Bangledeshi troops are to go to there in September and two weeks ago Mr Annan asked the EU to put together an interim force.

It is hoped to begin flying in troops next Thursday in a complex operation that will mean airlifting them to Entebbe in neighbouring Uganda and bringing them in smaller aircraft to the landing strip in Bunia which is in bad repair.

The EU is contributing 7m to cover common costs while the UN is putting together a fund to cover the costs of poorer countries contributing to the force, such as South Africa.

This will be a “coalition of the willing” according to senior EU diplomats so the other countries taking part will cover their own costs.

The meeting in Paris on Tuesday will finalise the kind of force needed for the six-month contract.

“We will be looking for very specific requirements and will refuse anything that does not fit our needs,” said an EU diplomat. “On the other hand we will also be looking for funds from every country.”

Operational control will be under the French military while political and strategic control will be under the foreign and security ambassadors from the member states to the EU.

The operation which has a UN mandate is being put together entirely by the EU without NATO help and will be just the second mission of the newly formed EU rapid reaction force.

The first mission is in Macedonia since March.