The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will temporarily get reinforcements of 916 troops as part of preparations for deployment in neighboring Burundi, where the world body's mandate is expiring, it said at the weekend.

Under a resolution adopted on Friday, the UN mission in the DRC, known by its French acronym MONUC, will add 916 blue helmets to its presence from Jan. 1 to Feb. 15, 2007, in preparation for a follow-up to the two-year United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB).

The country held elections in August 2005, which produced an ethnically-mixed government under a UN-backed plan to end the war between Hutu rebels and a Tutsi elite which controlled the state for most of the years since independence in 1962.

The ONUB deployment, which began in 2004. hit 5,500 at its maximum. The phased withdrawal of the mission. which currently has 3,000 soldiers, is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

As for the MONUC, which comes to an end on Feb. 15, 2007, the United Nations said it will re-examine the mission after holding consultations with the new government of the DRC according to proposals by the UN chief.

Source: Xinhua