The U.N. Security Council on Friday extended the current mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by one month and agreed to transform the operation so that it becomes a stabilization mission. “In view of the new phase that has been reached in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations mission in that country, MONUC, shall, as from 1 July 2010, bear the title of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO),” the council said in a unanimously adopted resolution. MONUC's mandate now extends through June 30, when it becomes MONUSCO, which has been authorized to stay in the DRC until June 30 of next year. The resolution also authorized the withdrawal of up to 2,000 U.N. military personnel by June 30 this year from areas where security has improved enough to allow their removal. In March, Congolese President Laurent Kabila requested that all U.N. peacekeepers leave the country by the end of June to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Congo's independence from Belgium, saying government troops had the capacity to keep law and order and protect civilians in the volatile eastern part of the country. In his latest report to the Security Council in April, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the security situation had improved in the DRC. “The sustained improvement in the security situation in eight of the country's 11 provinces provides a sound basis for devising a responsible exit strategy for the MONUC peacekeeping force,” Ban wrote.
