Saying he was shocked to learn of the death of Congo President Laurent Kabila, UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan tonight appealed to combatants not to destabilize the Central African nation further.
Mr Annan, in the first official UN reaction to Mr Kabila's death, said all parties in the conflict should work toward a peaceful resolution of the country's many-sided war.
"I earnestly hope that the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will not be derailed by the sudden death of President Kabila and that the political and security situation in the country and region would not be destabilized further", Mr Annan said in a prepared statement.
"I wish to reiterate the long-standing commitment of the United Nations to assist in the search for a lasting peace", he said and extended his condolences to Mr Kabila's family.
The Congolese government ended two days of confusion by confirming today that Mr Kabila had been shot by one of his own soldiers at his palace on Tuesday and died of his wounds.
The United Nations had refrained from commenting on Mr Kabila's killing until his death was officially confirmed by the government in Kinshasa.
The world body has tried for more than a year to send a 5,537-member observer mission to the Congo to monitor a cease-fire agreement negotiated in Lusaka, Zambia, in mid-1999.
The accord called for the withdrawal of all foreign troops, but Mr Annan has been unable to send in the full UN force because of continuing fighting.
Rwanda and Uganda both have troops in the Congo, backing rebels who tried to topple President Kabila. Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola have all sent in soldiers to bolster the Congolese government's ragged army.
Diplomats reported that some ambassadors on the 15-member UN Security Council were asked by Congolese officials in Kinshasa today to push for deployment of the force.
Reuters