• More than 1,200 dangerous items destroyed since mid-October
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MAG staff lay an OFAB500 Soviet aircraft bomb for demolition in Djiri. |
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Rigging the bomb for the controlled demolition. |
MAG has become only the 56th organisation to have signed a comprehensive Accord de Siège with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Francophony in the Republic of Congo.
The Accord will make it easier for MAG to operate in the country and carry out its stockpile management and demolition activities.
Working in partnership with the Ministry of Defence and alongside the Forces Armées Congolaises (FAC), MAG is carrying out Conventional Weapons Management and Disposal (CWMD) operations and recently undertook a series of demolition activities.
A number of large Soviet aircraft bombs were destroyed, along with
other items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and artillery rounds. In total
more than 1,200 dangerous items have been destroyed since mid-October
2008 when the second phase of this programme started.
MAG
Country Programme Manager, Frédéric Martin, said: “This demolition is
an important step in ensuring a safer and more peaceful future for the
Republic of Congo. Looking ahead, MAG is also planning to assist in the
destruction of the country’s anti-personnel mine stockpile to help it
reach the objectives laid out in the Ottawa Treaty.”
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Signing the Accord de Siège. From left to right: US Ambassador to the Republic of Congo, Alan Eastham; Maurice Badila, Head of Treaties and Conventions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Frédéric Martin, MAG Country Programme Manager; Ambassador Daniel Owassa, General Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Anne Kröning MAG Programme Officer; and Commissaire Colonel Germain Ickonga, General Director for Equipment, Ministry of Defence. [Photos: MAG ROC] |
Links:
- About MAG's work in the Republic of Congo
- Why does MAG work in the Republic of Congo?
- MAG publications - download more on MAG's approach to Conventional Weapons Management and Disposal
MAG’s work in the Republic of Congo is currently funded by the following donors: Conflict Prevention Pool; Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State.
4 December 08
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