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| Africa: East |
| UN Peacekeepers ’looted chapel’ |
| 2003-09-09 |
| The United Nations is investigating reports that Uruguayan troops stationed in this northeastern Congolese town broke into a Roman Catholic chapel, drank communion wine and stole items used in the celebration of Mass, the deputy commander of UN forces in Congo said on Tuesday. I’m shocked, shocked that UN troops would loot a church. Usually they just confine themselves to turning the nuns into sex slaves. Oh, wait, that’s the civilian UN staffs job, sorry. Brigadier General Jan Isberg, who is also acting commander of a special UN brigade deployed to quell violence in volatile Ituri province, said a priest told UN military officials here that the Uruguayans, who are part of the UN mission to Congo, known as Monuc, broke into the chapel inside the Chem-Chem compound on Monday and stole a gold-plated chalice and other religious items. Choir boys who were in the compound on Monday told the priest, who asked not to be further identified, that they witnessed the robbery and also saw the Uruguayans drinking the wine and eating the wafers used in communion. They’re lucky, African troops would have eaten the choir boys. Isberg said he didn’t know how many Uruguayan troops were involved in the robbery. He said a patrol unit made up of Uruguayans had been sent to guard the compound after residents looted it when the French withdrew, scooping up whatever they had left behind. The school and the nuns residence were also robbed. Isberg said the boys gave statements to UN officials and identified several of the Uruguayan soldiers they said took part in the robbery. UN military police and security officers later went to the Uruguayan base and recovered some of the stolen items. "Right now an inquiry is ongoing to establish whether the Uruguayan soldiers will be court- martialed," said Isberg. "The UN does not tolerate looting from anybody, and it is very tragic when we find our own personnel doing it." Then his lips fell off. An internal UN report said the Uruguayan soldiers "alleged that the material was removed purely for safekeeping". Good story,stick to it. The Uruguayan troops, who had been sent to Bunia several months earlier, remained inside their base in Bunia during the fighting in May during which at least 500 people were killed. "Hey, we’re only peacekeepers, we might get hurt out there." The mandate of the earlier UN mission in Bunia was only to protect unarmed military observers and UN equipment; the beefed-up mission includes a mandate to shoot to kill to protect civilians and to patrol the entire province, where fighting continues. Another successful UN mission. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 A fish rots from the head, right, Kofi? And if these were Paleo "freedom fighters", you'd never hear a word about it. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-9-9 7:47:34 PM |
| #5 I remember somebody saying the French did something right when they left and handed over the peacekeeping efforts to the Uruguayan troops. I also remember saying that " Handing over a peacekeeping mission to the UN isn't a success. " Or something along those lines. Case and point, the mysterious disappearence of the choir boys, who were being escorted to the UN base for 'Witness protection.' It hasn't happened yet, but that's only a technicality. |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-9-9 1:52:34 PM |
| #4 Uruguay is predominantly catholic. Sounds like those boys need a trip to the confession booth. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-9-9 1:44:02 PM |
| #3 LH? lol is it any wonder the troops on the ground have learned to implement the |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-9-9 11:51:31 AM |
| #2 "The UN does not tolerate looting from anybody, and it is very tragic when we find our own personnel doing it." Given that the UN looted it's own cafeteria in NY earlier this year, this statement lacks a certain... believability. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2003-9-9 11:04:17 AM |
| #1 "African troops would have eaten the choir boys" er, uhm, given the church scandals, perhaps you want to rephrase that. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-9-9 10:50:43 AM |