U.N. officials in Congo say they have made more changes to how they operate.
Despite the cease-fire, the situation remains tense as displaced people and citizens continue to seek safety, a spokesman for the U.N. mission in Congo said Thursday.
"We are looking into the most effective and fastest way of helping MONUC, " he said, using the French acronym for the U.N. mission in Congo.
Laurent Nkunda, who leads troops of the National Congress for the Defense of the People, told CNN in a phone interview he wants to start working Friday with the U.N. mission in Congo, known by its French acronym MONUC, to allow people back to their homes.
The U.N. beefed up the Congo peacekeeping force to 10, 800 and strengthened its mandate, authorizing the use of "all necessary means" to carry out the mission and placing a higher priority on protecting civilians.
More worrying still is the fate of the thousands the U.N. says are trapped inside the Congo, unable to escape the violence.
Based in Pheonix, Phelps Dodge has copper mining operations in the U.S., Chile, Peru and Congo, while New Orleans-based Freeport operates the vast open-pit Grasberg gold, copper, and silver mine in Indonesia, and has reserves of about 37 billion pounds of copper and 40 million ounces of gold.
On October 27, 2006, by Executive Order 13413, the President declared a national emergency with respect to the situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706), ordered related measures blocking the property of certain persons contributing to the conflict in that country.
More recently, we played a key role in supporting the U.N. intervention - again, Blue Helmets in the Congo - and we paid 25 percent of the bill.
NPR: U.S. Non-Intervention In Syria Could Mirror Outcome In Congo
The U.S. government has also been "extremely active in the Congo Basin region in putting pressure on governments to take this issue seriously, " according to Huijbregts.
Press for stronger engagement by the Council and other U.N. human rights mechanisms in Haiti, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo and partnered with Afghanistan to build international support for a resolution on preventing attacks on Afghan school children, especially girls.
WHITEHOUSE: Fact Sheet: Advancing Democracy and Human Rights
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