We’ve Seen This Situation Before

As reports of ethnic killings in Bunia circulated in United Nations corridors this month, there was a chilling sense of déjà vu. Once again, an increasing number of officials warned, the world body risked standing impotent while a catastrophe unfolded in central Africa.

Haunting them was the spectre of Rwanda, when the outside world failed to prevent the state-orchestrated genocide in 1994 of more than half a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Officials swore that genocide should never again be allowed to continue unabated.

The current crisis in north-eastern Congo puts almost a decade of thinking on the matter to the test and reflects the changing approach to peacekeeping in complex emergencies. While the situation is unique, its ethnic mix and complex history prompted UN officials earlier this month to warn that another Rwanda-style crisis may be unfolding. The current UN peacekeeping mission, the officials warned, did not have the resources or mandate to stop it.

Mr Annan consequently appealed to UN member states to send a robust emergency force to the region. Acknowledging that a full UN mission would be difficult to create in time, peacekeepers have called for a temporary "coalition of the willing" - most likely led by France - to step in until more permanent arrangements are made.

"We are very conscious of the context and the history," says one senior UN official. "We've seen this kind of situation before: where something which began on a small scale fairly quickly escalated into a horrible situation.

"Most important, there must be the political will to act. Rwanda was a failure of political will. That is why the secretary-general has urged [the international community] to step up quickly to provide help."

Amid calls for the UN to prove it still has a role in collective crisis resolution, the Congo may offer the organisation a chance to regain some credibility. Analysts say France, the country most likely to lead a mission, is keen to show it remains a significant player in international crises. Its main proviso - that others join and Rwanda and Uganda accept its involvement - reflects concerns over its chequered history in the region.

Britain, seen as closer to the current Ugandan and Rwandan governments and keen to underscore past commitments to co-operate with France in Africa, is now also considering a contribution. Analysts say other potential contributors are Pakistan, Nigeria, South Africa, Denmark and Spain, although these could still change. The US, to the surprise of some observers, has also offered moral support. A French team is now in Congo to determine whether a force should be confined to the town of Bunia, or allowed further afield.

It would not be the first time a force led by one country stepped in to provide cover, rather than the more laborious process of introducing "blue helmets" as UN peacekeeping soldiers are known: Britain's intervention in Sierra Leone was one high-profile example.

The question is to what extent this approach is becoming a new model for intervention. "It's not quite the way we would have wanted it but it's a question of speed and what's doable," said a senior UN official. A senior French official said a new style of African peacekeeping is emerging in which powerful European countries engage for an initial period, later giving way to a blue-helmet force.

But deep questions remain - not least when an expanded UN peacekeeping force would take over from the French-led mission, and whether the US would be willing to commit the necessary funds. "They could still end up fighting about what happens afterwards," said one analyst.