The United Nations technical assessment
team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has completed trips
to three of the four sites where peacekeeping troops will eventually be
based, a UN spokesman said today in New York.
The team visited Mbuji-Mayi, Kananga
and Mbandaka between Tuesday and Thursday, and is scheduled to visit the
fourth site, Matadi, on Saturday, the spokesman said.
"The deployment of the 5,500 military personnel is expected to take from four to six months," Fred Eckhard said, "which means that the mission will be deployed by the end of June at the earliest."
Mr. Eckhard added that Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Bernard Miyet had just completed a visit to the area and was expected to brief the Security Council on 28 March on the proposed mission to the DRC.