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 07 September 2008 04:04 BST

UN peackeepers 'armed Congo rebels'

Monday, 28 Apr 2008 14:46
UN Peackeepers armed Congo rebels
The United Nations (UN) is facing fresh allegations about the behaviour of peace keeping troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A BBC Panorama investigation claims to have uncovered evidence that Pakistani and Indian troops working as peacekeepers gave arms to militias and smuggled gold and ivory out of the country.

The UN investigated some of the claims in 2007, but said it could not substantiate claims of arms dealing.

The BBC claims UN insiders say they have been prevented from pursuing their inquiries for political reasons.

The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monuc) is the global body's largest, with 17,000 troops spread across the country.

The 18-month investigation by Panorama alleges Pakistani peacekeepers in the eastern town of Mongbwalu were involved in the illegal trade in gold with the FNI militia, providing them with weapons to guard the perimeter of the mines.

It also claims Indian peacekeepers operating around the town of Goma had direct dealings with the militia responsible for the Rwandan genocide, now living in eastern DR Congo.

The programme goes on to claim Indian peacekeepers traded gold, bought drugs from the militias and flew a UN helicopter into the Virunga National Park, where they exchanged ammunition for ivory

The UN looked into the allegations concerning the Pakistani troops in 2007.

It concluded that one officer had been responsible for dealing in gold - allowing traders to use UN aircraft to fly into the town, putting them up at the UN base and taking them around the town.

But the UN decided that "in the absence of corroborative evidence" its investigators "could not substantiate the allegation" that Pakistani peacekeepers supplied weapons or ammunition to the militia.

It did, however, identify "an individual who seemed to have facilitated gold smuggling".

Pakistan has said it has no means of influencing the UN and that there is no evidence that its troops were involved in an illegal gold trade or re-armed militia, describing the allegations as baseless.

The Indian Army told Panorama that an investigation by the UN watchdog had revealed that all but one of the allegations were based on hearsay or had no credible evidence.End of story


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