KINSHASA (AFP) — The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday called for an inquiry into comments by a senior Indian peacekeeper in support of renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda.
The organisation demanded that an internal United Nations inquiry be launched immediately into the matter, said spokesman Kemal Saiki.
Saiki added that the UN mission in DR Congo "disowns the personal remarks" of this commander in Nord-Kivu and "reiterates its full support for the Congolese authorities."
The mission had received "difficult to refute proof" of comments by Indian Colonel Chand Saroha during a ceremony shortly before his return to India following a one-year stint in the country.
In an audio recording of the ceremony the Indian officer allegedly calls Nkunda "brother."
He allegedly describes him as fighting for a "noble cause" and ready to make sacrifices following the example of "true revolutionaries."
In response, Nkunda thanks him for his friendship and his support telling him "you have helped us enormously."
Saroha says that he had not been officially authorised to meet the rebels but was impressed by their discipline and conduct.
The Indian officer commanded a unit of peacekeepers deployed near the provincial capital of Goma during a sensitive period.
The UN mission in Congo, known as MONUC, described the actions of its officer as "unacceptable" and "contrary to the mandate" of the UN.
Indian UN peacekeepers have already been accused of trafficking in gold while Pakistani troops have also been embroiled in similar allegations of trading in gold and guns with Congolese militia they were meant to be disarming.
In May 2007, MONUC announced an investigation into possible trafficking in gold and arms by peacekeepers deployed in 2005 in Ituri, in the northeast of Congo.
Since August 2007, Nord-Kivu has seen clashes between the army and insurgents allied to Nkunda who claims to be protecting Congolese ethnic Tutsis.
Under current peace agreements more than 6,000 Hutu rebels in eastern Congo -- some of whom took part in the 1994 massacres in Rwanda -- are to be repatriated, and Congolese militias must disarm.
Nkunda strongly opposes the presence in Congo of Hutus from neighbouring Rwanda, who also have a politico-military movement and some of whom are blamed for that country's genocide, mainly of Tutsis in 1994.
MONUC has more than 16,000 troops from 18 nations in Congo, with India and Pakistan the leading troop contributors, its website says.
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