UN team arrives for two-day visit
 
2005-11-09 09:33:13
By Guardian Reporter

A 28-member United Nations Security Council delegation arrives in the country today for a two-day visit.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation said the delegation was led by Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sablière of France.

The group will hold talks with President Benjamin Mkapa and Foreign Affairs Minister Jakaya Kikwete before speaking to the media in Dar es Salaam.

The statement said the visit was also a goodwill gesture to Tanzania which acts as mediator in peace negotiations in some Great Lakes countries and hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Also on the UN team’s itinerary are Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and DRC.

The group has already visited the DRC capital, Kinshasa, where it emphasised to the parties contesting ’the biggest and most expensive elections the UN has ever helped to organise’ that they are expected to accept the results. Elections are due in the country in 2006.

• SOURCE: Guardian