Security Council cancels trip to Congo because of volcanic ash cloud
By APFriday, April 16, 2010
Security Council cancels Congo trip
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council has canceled a trip to Congo because of the volcanic ash cloud over Europe.
Diplomats from the 15 council nations were scheduled to leave New York for Paris on Friday night and change planes for Kinshasa, but almost all flights to France and many across Europe have been canceled because of the hazardous cloud from an erupting volcano in Iceland.
A U.N. spokesman announced Friday morning that the mission’s leader, French Ambassador Gerard Araud, decided to cancel it due to developments “related to volcanic clouds.”
Congo has called for the 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force to leave before September 2011. The U.N. force has helped fight Rwandan Hutu rebels and other insurgents in eastern Congo.
