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'Peacekeepers armed militias'
28/04/2008 20:14 - (SA)
Kinshasa - Peacekeepers from Pakistan and India smuggled gold and ivory - and gave arms to militias fighting in eastern Congo in return, the British Broadcasting Corporation alleged on Monday, saying it had new witness accounts disputing UN claims that no weapons transfers had taken place.
The UN has said it found some evidence of smuggling involving peacekeepers, but no exchanges involving arms.
The BBC first made similar allegations more than a year ago, and the UN launched an investigation into reports that its troops were involved.
A UN spokesperson in Congo said on Monday that the BBC report did not appear to raise new allegations, and added that investigations are continuing into accusations of misconduct.
"It is clear that there were cases of unacceptable conduct by individuals, but there is no proof to establish the traffic mentioned," spokesperson Kemal Saiki said. He said UN investigations had yet to turn up "irrefutable proof" of weapons or munitions transfers.
The BBC, returning to the region to follow up its original report, said it found witnesses who backed claims of UN-militia arms trades in the mining town of Mongbwalu and said weapons were given to militias there to guard the perimeters of gold mines and to secure the region.
No evidence of arms trading
A former militant, who was not named, also told the BBC he saw seven boxes of ammunition being brought from a UN camp to resupply a militia called the Nationalist and Integrationist Front during a battle. Former leaders of the militia jailed in the capital, Kinshasa, also told the BBC they received weapons from UN peacekeepers.
UN officials said last year that their investigation into the initial accusations turned up no evidence of arms trading, though there were indications a Pakistani peacekeeper had been involved in gold smuggling.
The BBC report said a separate contingent of Indian peacekeepers had flown a UN helicopter into Congo's Virunga National Park to trade ammunition for ivory with a Rwandan rebel group - whose commanders directed that country's 1994 genocide. It did not provide further details.
The UN said in July it had opened an investigation into charges that Indian peacekeepers sold arms to Congolese militias near the Rwandan border.
UN officials in Congo previously have told The Associated Press that there have been instances of Indian peacekeepers trading UN rations to Rwandan rebels for gold.
Allegations 'based on heresay'
The BBC said "confidential UN sources" told its reporters that they had been blocked from thoroughly investigating the allegations of arms trading for "political reasons" - a suggestion that reports were buried to avoid embarrassment to key allies in US anti-terrorism efforts and major contributors to UN missions.
The UN has said it was looking into charges that the probe by its internal watchdog, the Office of Internal Oversight Services, was obstructed by peacekeepers.
Pakistan denied the previous allegations against its peacekeepers. A spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry and its military could not be reached for comment on Monday.
The Indian Army told the BBC that the previous UN probe showed nearly all allegations were based on hearsay.
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