WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S State Department announced special envoy to the DRC Russ Feingold arrived in the region to help drive the effort to bring peace to the country.
Secretary of State John Kerry appointed former Sen. Feingold, D-Wis., to serve as a special envoy for the region in June.
The State Department said Feingold was dispatched to the region to take part in efforts backed by the European Union, African Union and United Nations to bring peace to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
"The trip will be special envoy Feingold's first visit to the region in his new capacity, and follows on multiple trips during his tenure as a U.S. senator," the State Department said Tuesday.
A statement issued Friday by the office of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was deeply concerned by the deteriorating security situation in the eastern DRC.
A Tanzanian member of a U.N. peacekeeping force in Democratic Republic of Congo was killed in fighting last week. The U.N mission, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, said several civilians were killed during fighting between Congolese forces and M23 in August.
Ban tasked the Great Lakes and DRC special envoys with working to find a peaceful solution to the situation.
M23 took control of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu province, briefly last year. Former leader Bosco Ntaganda surrendered to the International Criminal Court this year to face war crimes charges.
