KINSHASA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) hopes to see the UN peacekeeping mission pull out in 2011 and shift the duty to its own armed forces, a senior official has said.

Communication Minister and government spokesman Lambert Mende told a press conference here on Thursday that Kinshasa hopes to see the UN mission MONUC out in 2011 to allow the army (FARDC), police and security forces to strengthen themselves and the country to conduct judicial reforms.

Mende said the position had already been communicated to UN officials and that the proposal was being discussed by both sides.

The disengagement of MONUC is supposed to begin with those deployed in the zones no longer threatened by any conflict within the central African county. They need to be transferred by now until the end of 2010 to the two provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, which are still facing attacks from armed groups.

On the issue of reconfiguring the mandate of MONUC, the Congolese government stated that this is line with the essential principles of respecting the independence and sovereignty of DR Congo and setting up a national plan by the government to reform the security system.