U.N. probes beyond Congo

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The head of U.N. peacekeeping said yesterday he is expanding an investigation of staff and troop conduct from Congo to 15 other missions to ensure greater transparency, even though additional sex scandals are likely to emerge.

Undersecretary-General Jean-Marie Guehenno said the effort will include an audit of all missions, immediate action against peacekeepers who violate laws and U.N. regulations, and a public report to be released in April.

"As we take action in that direction, I think things may well get worse before they get better," Mr. Guehenno told editors and reporters at The Washington Times.

"As the [commanders] get their grip on what is happening in their missions, more information will come up and it will look bad, but it is a signal that now there is a basis to take action."

The United Nations, beset by scandals over the Iraq oil-for-food program, also is reeling from charges of sex crimes committed by its peacekeepers in Congo, including the gang-rape of children as young as 12.

Rep. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican, next week will introduce legislation ordering U.S. government contributions be withheld unless international military and peacekeeping missions are certified to be free of sexual exploitation.

The United Nations has authorized the deployment of more than 60,000 peacekeeping forces in 16 missions around the globe.

This week, three Pakistani peacekeepers were accused of raping a prostitute in the Haitian city of Gonaives, and there are reports from Liberia and Burundi of similar abuses.

But the most extensive scandal occurred in eastern Congo, where peacekeepers and U.N. civilian staff have been accused of raping girls as young as 12, bribing children with eggs, milk or a few dollars for sex, and fathering and abandoning hundreds of children.

Some 51 peacekeepers or civilians have been expelled from the Congo, according to Jane Holl Lute, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping who oversees logistics, personnel issues and financing.