UN to Extend DRC Resource Exploitation Mandate

(Rapaport…July 22, 2002) UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has recommended that an expert panel dealing with the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) be extended until October 31. Anan noted in a letter to the Security Council that the panel needed additional time to receive responses from questionnaires sent to Member States and to corroborate evidence. Anan reappointed the six-member panel in January after the Council decided to extend the panel’s initial mandate for an additional six months. After resuming their work in February, the experts issued a preliminary report in May.