Pakistani UN peacekeeping forces trading Gun for Gold

[Bull]

"Pakistani UN peacekeeping troops have traded in gold and sold weapons to Congolese militia groups they were meant to disarm, the BBC has learnt........The trading went on in 2005. A UN investigative team sent to gather evidence was obstructed and threatened......."I saw a UN Pakistani soldier who came to buy gold from one of the gold negotiators here in Mongbwalu. I was there in the shop. I saw it with my own eyes.".... As the trade developed the Pakistani officers brought in the Congolese army and then Indian traders from Kenya....."The officer expressed his regrets over the malpractices of a Pakistani battalion under the auspices of Major Zanfar. He revealed the arms surrendered by ex-combatants were secretly returned to them by Major Zanfar thereby compromising the work they had collectively done earlier.... "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6681457.stm

 

[Introvert]

Pakistan is the largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping forces. The article above is just meant to degrade the PA, so just ignore it.

 

[Bull]

Well the BBC says the report was digged by UN for fear of political fallout. What does anybody gain by degrading Pakistan. Pakistan is the largest contributor to a force which is widely ignored by developed nations. Un depends on countries like Pakistan/India/B'desh to fill in UN peacekeepers role. So there is nothing they(UN and BBC) can gain by degrading Pakista,

 

[Introvert]

Well the BBC says the report was digged by UN for fear of political fallout. What does anybody gain by degrading Pakistan. Pakistan is the largest contributor to a force which is widely ignored by developed nations. Un depends on countries like Pakistan/India/B'desh to fill in UN peacekeepers role. So there is nothing they(UN and BBC) can gain by degrading Pakista,

Well, if u compare Pak, Bangladesh, & India, then read about them on the media, u'll see that there r not many good stuff written about Pak , after all it is a Muslim country.

 

[A.Rahman]

where is the proof? like some undercover documentary? BBC is already Pro India & Anti Pakistani, maybe because of lot of "Raj's" working there.

 

[Neo]

Raj's, Varma's, Malhotra's, Patel's...

 

[Contrarian]

ahem...Mishra's

 

[BATMAN]

I invite members to discuss on what I have quoted below and it is the extract of same article.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6681457.stm

The Pakistani battalion of the UN peacekeeping mission deployed there two years ago and helped bring peace to an area that had previously seen bitter fighting between the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups.

Locals welcomed them, but the lure of the rich alluvial gold mines proved too much to resist for some, recalls the head of the miners' association, Liki Likambo.

"I saw a UN Pakistani soldier who came to buy gold from one of the gold negotiators here in Mongbwalu. I was there in the shop. I saw it with my own eyes." ....

Richard Ndilu, in charge of immigration at Mongbwalu airstrip, became suspicious in late 2005 when an Indian businessman arrived there...

Scandal

Alerted to this illegal trade by her officials, the District Commissioner of Ituri, Petronille Vaweka, went to Bunia airport to intercept a plane from Mongbwalu.

She said her way was blocked by Congolese army officers, who refused to allow her to inspect the cargo.

"I knew they had gold because the price of gold increased when the Indians went to Mongwalu," she said.

"When we wanted to verify what was inside the plane the pilot refused to allow us to enter the plane - me who was the chief, he refused! It was a big scandal." .....

head of the UN in Congo, Ambassador William Swing, he denied emphatically that peacekeepers had been rearming the militia.

"This I can categorically deny. What we have done is just the opposite. We have demobilised more than 20,000. We have taken in caches of arms. We have destroyed arms. We have done public burnings of these arms. And there is absolutely nothing to that allegation." ....

Article it self indicates that it is a scandal and is basically based on two witneses:

WITNESS# 1

Deals
Evarista Anjasubu - a local businessman said he had known of transactions between Pakistani officers and two of the most notorious militia leaders called Kung Fu and Dragon who controlled the gold mines.

"They were already friends. I knew well. It was gold that was the basis of their friendship. So the gold extracted from the mines went directly to the Pakistanis. They used to meet in the UN camp in Mongbwalu, in a thatched house."

As the trade developed the Pakistani officers brought in the Congolese army and then Indian traders from Kenya.

Richard Ndilu, in charge of immigration at Mongbwalu airstrip, became suspicious in late 2005 when an Indian businessman arrived there and went to stay at the camp of the Pakistani peacekeepers.

WITNESS# 2.

Rearming
This is from a witness statement given to the UN by a Congolese officer engaged in the disarming of the militia in the nearby town of Nizi

Immediately, following questions pop in to my mind:

1- What is the credibility of such witneses?
2- If militias are armed than how can there be peace?
3- Is it fair to blame some one without evidence?
4- Article reference is two years old what is the point to print it today?

It reminds me of a sort of similar journalism by CNN.
Approximately, two month back CNN started a competiton for best African journalist.
One of CNN's prominent African journalist reported a kidnaping of Phillipino workers in Nigeria, he actually filmed the hostages.
Which was rejected next day (very strongly) by Nigerian authoroties as a staged kidnapping. Hostages were rleased without ransom and perhaps the journalist won the award.

If I would have been blamed like this, than my reaction would be to take next flight to UK and sue BBC.

 

[Samudra]

The report in question was written by one Martin Plaut. Doesnt sound like an Indian name.

 

[A.Rahman]

The report in question was written by one Martin Plaut. Doesnt sound like an Indian name.

When you call dell tech support; they get you "Peter" but in real life he is "Patel"

 

[Samudra]

When you call dell tech support; they get you "Peter" but in real life he is "Patel"

Evil chaps them Patels. Make too much money and always have the nice girls around too.

Nevermind. Get back to the topic.

 

[A.Rahman]

Evil chaps them Patels. Make too much money and always have the nice girls around too.

Nevermind. Get back to the topic.

yea, whats with that ? :p

 

[Bull]

I thought everybody here preached "look at message and not the messenger" . The BBC report did not go about unravelling the scandal as made out by the member, but they just got thir hand on to a UN report which they had burried due to fear of political backlash. BBC went and spoke to those guys who were mentioned as witnesses in the UN report to verify it.

And mind you BBC is biased, they are for sure. But this report didnt havbe the usual 'Pakistani bashing title' they named it ' UN peacekeepers sold guns for gold' and not 'Pakistani UN peacekeepers sold guns for gold'.

 

[EagleEyes]

I am not sure if this is correct. There are UN peacekeepers in DRC who have done it, but nationalities were not disclosed.

http://english.people.com.cn/200705/24/eng20070524_377410.html

 

[Bull]

I am not sure if this is correct. There are UN peacekeepers in DRC who have done it, but nationalities were not disclosed.

http://english.people.com.cn/200705/24/eng20070524_377410.html

"The trading went on in 2005. A UN investigative team sent to gather evidence was obstructed and threatened. The team's report was buried by the UN itself to "avoid political fallout". - BBC

Now try reading oth the reports together, the BBC report is true.