UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council has given a green light for peacekeepers to use surveillance drones in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after weeks of delay over concerns of Russia, China and Rwanda about the use of aerial spy equipment.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote to the 15-member council late last month to advise that peacekeepers in Congo planned to use unmanned aerial systems "to enhance situational awareness and to permit timely decision-making" in dealing with a nine-month insurgency by M23 rebels in the mineral-rich east.