UN cuts back Congo army support after killings

By Joe Bavier

KINSHASA (Reuters) - The United Nations will suspend support for Congolese army units that it believes deliberately killed over 60 civilians in joint operations this year, U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said in an interview aired Monday.

The United Nations has backed President Joseph Kabila's forces in operations against Rwandan rebels, despite complaints from human rights groups and others about abuses by soldiers and the high number of civilians caught up in the offensives.

"According to our information, these civilians were clearly targeted in attacks by certain units of the (army)," Le Roy told U.N.-sponsored Radio Okapi. He was referring to the deaths of at least 62 civilians between May and September in eastern Congo, where army units are fighting Rwandan rebels.

"We have decided that (Democratic Republic of Congo's peacekeeping mission) MONUC will immediately suspend its logistical and operational support to the army units implicated in these killings," Le Roy said during a tour of the region.

The killings cited by Le Roy took place around the village of Lukweti, around 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. Le Roy said many of the victims were women and children.

Congo launched operations against the rebel FDLR, some of whose members participated in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, in January as part of efforts to heal ties with Rwanda, a former enemy during the country's 1998-2003 war.

More than 1,000 civilians have been killed, more than 7,000 women and girls raped, and more than 900,000 people forced to flee their homes since operations began. Over 1,000 of the FDLR's estimated 6,000 fighters have been disarmed.

Le Roy named the units as being part of the 213th brigade of the Congolese army. But he did not say how many were affected by the move or how it affected UN support of the wider operations.