UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked his special envoy for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Moustapha Nisasse, to travel to Kinshasa, capital of Congo (K), on November 7-10, in a bid to promote the peace process in the central African country, a UN statement said on November 8.

The statement, issued by the UN spokesman, said that the special envoy is in Kinshasa for consultations with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the on-going deployment of UN personnel in the country to assist in the implementation of the Lusaka Peace Agreement, signed on July 10, and several other issues related to the peace process.

"While in Kinshasa, the special envoy will also meet with representatives of the unarmed opposition and civil society, as he did in April 1999, both to listen to their views and to brief them on the on-going and planned action of the United Nations to contribute to the restoration of peace" in the country, the statement added.

Fred Eckhard, the UN spokesman, told a press conference here, "We called Kinshasa this morning, and were told that the technical survey team, which has been in Kinshasa since October 17, spent the day waiting for clearance in Kinshasa airport to begin their mission to Goma and a number of other sites."

The spokesman said that the team did not receive the green light from the Congolese authorities.

The Security Council Friday unanimously renewed until January 15, 2000, the mandate of several dozen UN military liaison officers sent to Congo (K) and neighboring countries to help implement the Lusaka Peace Agreement.

The United Nations is trying to lay groundwork for carrying out an accord signed in Lusaka, capital of Zambia, in July aimed at ending the conflict in the country, with the government of Congo (K) supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe and the rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda.