The Security Council is pleased with “the engagements undertaken by the Democratic Republic of Congo and the countries of the Great Lakes region to jointly promote peace and stability in the region, and reaffirms that it demands of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and all governments, in particular those of the region, to take efficient measures so that armed groups in eastern DRC do not benefit from any support.”

Resolution 1896 “condemns any efforts to transport illicit weapons into the Democratic Republic of Congo, in violation of resolutions 1533 (2004), 1807 (2008) and 1857 (2008).”

The Council declares itself “determined to continue to supervise the application of the embargo attentively on weapons and other measures defined by its resolutions concerning the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

The resolution also underlines “that it’s incumbent upon the head of Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to assure security on its territory, and to protect its civilians with respect to the rule of law, human rights and international humanitarian international law.”

Furthermore, the Council “asks the Secretary General to extend for the period ending 30 November 2010, the mandate of the Group of Experts (charged with supervising the embargo on weapons), create through the application of resolution 1533 (2004).”

It asks the Group of experts to concentrate its activities in North and South Kivu, in Ituri and in Oriental Province, as well as on the regional networks that provide support to the armed groups operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.”

The Congolese government, through its minister of communication, Lambert Mende, qualified the decision of the Security Council as “the wisest it could take.” With this extension, he continued, the group of independent experts will be able to better assess and evaluate their findings.

*Translation from the original French by MONUC's web unit