Congo (DRC)

The United Nations is quietly preparing an exit strategy for its troops in the Congo (DRC), the biggest UN peacekeeping mission in the world, diplomats and officials said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, diplomats and UN officials said President Joseph Kabila was putting pressure on the UN and Security Council ahead of the country's 50th anniversary next year to come up with a plan for ending the peacekeeping mission, known as MONUC, in the former Belgian colony since 1999. "It's partly a question of dignity," one Western diplomat told Reuters. "Kabila's eager to show that his government's reliance on UN peacekeeping is decreasing. It's understandable. No leader wants to give the impression that he needs UN peacekeepers to stay in power." (Reuters)