|
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo until the end of the year while calling for a timetable to gradually withdraw the nearly 18,000-member force.
The resolution extending the force's mandate deplored outbreaks of violence earlier this year and urged the government and opposition to remain committed to reconciliation and democracy. It demanded that all militias and armed groups in volatile eastern Congo lay down their arms.
The mineral-rich central African nation has been wracked by years of war and decades of dictatorship. Last year, the country held its first free elections in more than 40 years, but the government led by President Joseph Kabila remains fragile.
|