UN says it’s ready to work with Congo on peacekeeper pullout

The head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, which was the target of deadly protests during the summer, said the United Nations is “ready and willing” to work closely with the government to step up the pace of withdrawal of the U.N. force that has over 14,000 troops and police.
Bintou Keita told the Security Council on Friday that in the wake of the resurgence of the M23 rebel group in recent months, the “crisis of confidence” that had already affected the U.N. mission and the people in eastern Congo had worsened. This provided “fertile ground” for stigmatization of the force and the sowing of disinformation about the mission, known as MONUSCO.