§ Mr. LeighTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British troops will be deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force. [116959]
§ Mr. Ingram[holding answer 9 June 2003]: The United Kingdom currently contributes six UK military personnel to the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUC) that has been operating in the DRC since 13 November 1999.
In addition, as I announced in the House on 12 June 2003, Official Report, column 849), the UK has offered a small contribution to the EU-led multinational force being deployed to Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We have offered five staff officers for the Force Headquarters in theatre, a liaison officer to work with the UN, some Hercules transport aircraft to help deploy the force and a small detachment of engineers. The precise number of personnel will not be known until we have completed a detailed analysis of the engineer tasks to be undertaken in Bunia. This is not a UN force but is EU-led as a European Security and Defence Policy operation.