UN defends Congo role despite army killings

By Joe Bavier

KINSHASA (Reuters) - The United Nations is committed to supporting Congo's army and has only withdrawn assistance from certain units it believes killed more than 60 civilians in recent fighting, top U.N. officials said on Tuesday.

The United Nations must remain involved with Congolese forces to prevent further abuses of civilians in the current offensive in the east of the country, they said.

The U.N. suspended logistical and operational support on Monday for army units it believes killed at least 62 civilians during a peacekeeper-backed offensive against the rebel group the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.

But, in an interview with U.N.-sponsored Radio Okapi broadcast, U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said the mission in Democratic Republic of Congo had no intention of withdrawing its broader support for the offensive.

"(The U.N.) will continue its engagement on the side of the Congolese army in the operation, which is very important in order to neutralise the FDLR. It is very clear that we have the support of the Security Council on this point," he said.

The presence in eastern Congo of the FDLR is considered to be a root cause of over a decade of conflict and a humanitarian crisis that has killed an estimated 5.4 million people.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused government soldiers on Monday of deliberately killing at least 505 civilians, many of them women, children and the elderly, in targeted attacks since the offensive began in March. Some were hacked to death with machetes, beheaded, or burned alive in their homes, it said.

The rights campaigner called for an immediate withdrawal of support provided to the army by Congo's U.N. mission, MONUC, which includes supplying food, fuel and transport for the army as well as helicopter firepower.