UN Troops Traded Guns for Gold

UN peacekeeping troops sold weapons to guerrilla fighters in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a BBC investigation claims, charging that the UN suppressed the story for political reasons. Pakistani and Indian troops, part of the UN's largest peacekeeping force of 17,000, are said to have traded munitions for gold. A UN investigation into the scandal was suppressed, a UN insider told the BBC, for fear of angering Pakistan.

“It's true, they did give us arms,” said “Kung-Fu,” an imprisoned leader of the FNI faction. “They said to us that we would help them take care of the zone.” Human-rights groups have called the FNI “some of the most murderous individuals that operate in eastern Congo.” (More Democratic Republic of Congo stories.)