Congo Rebels Advance; Protesters Hurl Rocks at U.N. Compound - NYTimes.com

The general who resigned, Lt. Gen. Vicente Díaz de Villegas y Herrería, was officially appointed just seven weeks ago to lead the United Nations' Congo mission and had been in the country for only three weeks.

The announcement in New York that he was stepping down, from the spokeswoman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said only that General Díaz was leaving for "personal reasons."

But some United Nations officials described his oral resignation as an emotional one. Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details of the resignation, said he had criticized the lack of a coherent strategy, the lack of a mandate and the lack of resources needed to get the peacekeeping job done.