A withdrawal of the UN mission from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2011 sought by Kinshasa would be "premature," France's UN Ambassador Gerard Araud said here Tuesday.

The 20,000-strong force known as MONUC - the UN's largest peacekeeping mission - "will not remain indefinitely," Araud noted, cautioning that a withdrawal must be done right rather than quickly.

Kinshasa has asked for a complete pullout of MONUC by late August 2011, with the first departure of a contingent before June 30 of next year, when the DRC celebrates the 50th anniversary of its independence from Belgium.

Araud said all 15 council members "have expressed concern about the date of 2011" and judged it "premature."

He stressed that a UN Security Council delegation he will lead on a two-day visit to Kinshasa starting Saturday would go to the DRC "with an open mind." Seven ambassadors will be among the participating delegates.

Delegates will hold talks with President Joseph Kabila, government ministers, parliamentarians and members of civil society, as well as with officials from MONUC and other UN agencies on the ground. All council member states will be represented on the trip.

"We have to discuss with Congolese authorities the transition which will lead to the withdrawal of MONUC," the French envoy said. "This moment has not to be decided in an artificial way... For the moment, the situation remains extremely fragile, so we have to do it right rather than to do it quickly."

Araud said the talks in Kinshasa would focus on "the best way" to have the Congolese army, police and justice exert effective state authority over the huge, mineral-rich central African country as a prelude to a MONUC withdrawal.

In a recent report to the council, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a complete MONUC pullout would depend on whether a series of strategic goals can be met.

These include protecting civilians from sexual violence and other threats, increasing the number of trained DRC police units and reducing threats posed by armed groups such as Rwandan Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

Earlier Tuesday, UN envoy to DRC Alan Doss told the council it would be "operationally feasible" to begin the first stage of a drawdown from the country's west, center and southeast before June 30 as recommended by Ban.

Joint reviews by the United Nations and Kinshasa next September and in March next year should focus on progress on military operations against armed groups and restoration of state authority in areas cleared of gunmen, he said.

The reviews "would be the trigger for the planning of subsequent phases of the drawdown based on the principle of national self-reliance put forward by Predident Kabila," Doss added.

The council delegation had initially planned to travel to Uganda and Rwanda as well, but those visits were scrapped and the team was due to fly back from Kinshasa to New York next Tuesday due to the council's busy schedule later this month. 

MONUC was initially deployed in 2001 when the DRC was still in the grips of a 1998-2003 war that embroiled the armies of more than half a dozen other African countries.

(Source: AFA)