U.N. denounces Congo ceasefire breaches

KINSHASA, Congo (Reuters) -- The United Nations Wednesday denounced cease-fire violations in Democratic Republic of Congo as an untimely complication for a renewed push to end the two-year-old war there.

A spokesman for Kemal Morjane, the U.N. special representative in the former Zaire, described the fighting in the southern province of Katanga as "useless" and a threat to broader stability in the region.

"At a moment when political and diplomatic initiatives are being made at all levels for the deployment of a U.N. military observer force, the cease-fire violations in the north of Katanga are a cause of great concern to the U.N. secretary general's special representative," the spokesman, Amadou Toure, said Wednesday.

Toure offered no details of the violations but the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) rebel group last week recaptured the Katangese town of Pepa, close to Lake Tanganyika.

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The warring parties signed a peace deal in 1999.

The Security Council agreed in January to deploy 500 military observers and 5,000 support troops in Congo. It must vote on whether to extend the mandate, which expires on December 15. Troop contributing countries are also due to meet soon.

"The current situation complicates the role of the (U.N.) secretary-general (Kofi Annan) as well as the role of his special representative," Morjane's spokesman Toure said.

Rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda took up arms against President Laurent Kabila in August 1998. Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia back Kabila.

Countries in the conflict agreed in October in Mozambique to pull back at least nine miles from the front lines.

Close to 100 military observers are in Congo and the capitals of the countries involved in the war. Further deployment has been hampered by cease-fire breaches by both sides.

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