By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 14

West Africa could be drug-trafficking 'epicentre,' UN warns
(PRAIA) - West Africa is in danger of becoming a hub of the international trade in drugs, the head of the United Nations anti-drug unit warned Tuesday.

The region "is at risk of becoming an epicentre for drug trafficking and the crime and corruption associated with it," said Antonio Maria Costa, director general of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in Praia, capital of the West African island state of Cape Verde.

"Time is running out, the threat is spreading throughout the region," he said in a statement issued shortly before the opening of a conference on drugs and security in the region jointly organised by UNODC and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 11

West African leader laments surge in drug-trafficking
(PRAIA) - West Africa has become a hub for a drug-trafficking industry that threatens regional security, Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore warned Tuesday.

"At the moment, when the world is facing the financial and food crisis, there are less publicised scourges, such as drug trafficking," Compaore told a conference in Praia, capital of the West African island state of Cape Verde.

The comments by Compaore, current president of the Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS), follow a similar warning Monday by the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) before the opening of the ECOWAS conference on drugs and security in the region.

By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 9

EU commissioner to visit DR Congo amid 'catastrophe' fears
(BRUSSELS) - EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel will make an emergency visit to DR Congo on Wednesday to ascertain the needs on the ground in the violence-wracked country, a spokesman said.

EU Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj described as a "catastrophe" reports that the United Nations was preparing to evacuate humanitarian workers from the violence-wracked area in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 12

Chadian rebels fire on EU force: rebel spokesman
(LIBREVILLE) - Rebels in Chad fired on EU peacekeepers deployed to protect Darfur refugees over the weekend, a rebel spokesman said Tuesday, an incident confirmed by EUFOR.

The incident, near Moudeina in eastern Chad near the border with Sudan, occurred Sunday, said Hissene Ahamat Al-Hadj, of the rebel Union of Forces for Change and Democracy.

By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 11

France backs sending EU troops to DR Congo
(PARIS) - France supports sending an EU battle group of up to 1,500 troops to help tackle unrest in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Wednesday.

"We are in contact with the United Nations Secretary General, with the (EU) high representative Javier Solana, with our colleagues from the various countries," Kouchner, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, told reporters.

By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 10

EU favours diplomatic response to DR Congo crisis
(BRUSSELS) - The European Union is seeking a diplomatic, not a military, response to defuse the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana's spokeswoman said Wednesday.

"At this point, there is no discussion of any military role for the EU," said Cristina Gallach.

She was speaking as French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Paris, which currently holds the EU's presidency, supported sending an EU battle group of up to 1,500 troops to help tackle unrest in eastern DRC.

By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 9

Belgian FM favours sending EU troops to DR Congo: report
(BRUSSELS) - Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht said in a newspaper interview Thursday that he was in favour of sending 2,000-3,000 European troops to the conflict-hit eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

"I think that European military action makes sense... Humanitarian corridors need to be opened up and a cease-fire must be respected," De Gucht told the French language Le Soir newspaper.

By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 14

EU considering all options on DR Congo unrest: Solana
(PARIS) - The European Union is considering all options to help tackle unrest in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the bloc's foreign policy envoy Javier Solana said on Thursday.

"All options, all possibilities of helping, politically, from a humanitarian point of view, we are considering them. I cannot be any more precise right now," Solana told reporters in Paris after a speech at an EU study institute.

"We need to keep working on the humanitarian question. It is important to keep Goma airport open," he added.

By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 9

EU gives emergency aid to DR Congo
(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission said Thursday it would give four million euros (5.2 million dollars) in emergency aid to help the Democratic Republic of Congo to cope with conflict in its troubled east.

"We are facing a critical humanitarian situation," spokesman John Clancy told journalists in Brussels. "The commission can announce emergency financial aid of a total four million euros."

By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 13

Too early to decide on more troops for Congo, says Britain
(LONDON) - Britain voiced caution Thursday over plans to send more UN or European Union troops to the strife-hit Democratic Republic of Congo, saying it was too early to decide.

Africa minister Mark Malloch-Brown said he had spoken to the UN's special representative on the crisis, Alan Doss, who had "renewed his request for troops."