Brazil supports presence of UN peacekeepers in DR Congo

Brazil said Thursday it supports presence of UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) despite allegations of the peacekeepers' slow response to mass rapes there.

Forign Minister Celso Amorim made the comments after meeting with his DRC counterpart Basile Ikouebe, according to local press reports.

"We discussed the importance of maintaining the peacekeeping force in DRC," he said, adding that the situation there was "totally under control."

UN officials said Congolese Mai-Mai militants and Rwandan rebel group, Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) raped some 500 civilian women and minors in July and August in eastern DRC.

Some of the rapes occurred within relatively close proximity to the UN Organization Stabilizing Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), but the mission did not hear about them until after they occurred. Questions have been raised since about the mission's effectiveness in preventing rapes.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday both the UN and the DRC government must work together to prevent the recurrence of mass rapes.

Source: Xinhua