UN peacekeepers in east Congo, under fire for failing to shield civilians from a chaotic war between rebels, army and militias, are struggling to find their role to halt a wider conflict and humanitarian disaster. Almost a decade after being sent to Democratic Republic of Congo on their latest mission, the blue helmets are criticized as inept by the government and civilians. Anti-government rebels call them biased and diplomats say their action is confused. As Tutsi rebels have seized swathes of eastern territory since August, routing chaotic army troops backed by the peacekeepers, the U.N. soldiers have seemed to hesitate, unable to stop bloodshed and unsure how to secure and preserve peace. “I'm not sure what our position is anymore. We were ready to intervene, but we didn't,” one senior UN officer in Congo told Reuters after the rebels advanced, pushing back the army and ignoring threats of attack by U.N. helicopter gunships. International pressure has grown for the United Nations to sharpen and strengthen its peacekeeping efforts to stop a determined rebellion by Tutsi fighters loyal to dissident General Laurent Nkunda from escalating into a repeat of Congo's 1998-2003 war. The world community has already spent billions of dollars trying to help the mineral-rich former Belgian colony at Africa's heart recover from that war and its aftermath, which killed 5 million people through violence, hunger and disease. The U.N. Congo force complains it is over-stretched and cannot protect all civilians in the east, which teems with aggressive armed groups despite successful national elections in 2006 that returned President Joseph Kabila to office. The peacekeepers have not always shirked direct combat. Indian UN soldiers have in the past used attack helicopters and heavy weapons to kill hundreds of Nkunda's fighters threatening Goma, the capital of eastern North Kivu province. But in the most recent fighting since August, the rebels seized Rutshuru town in an advance that took them to the gates of Goma before Nkunda declared a ceasefire. At nearby Kiwanja, UN soldiers did not stop the killings of dozens of civilians blamed by human rights organizations on Nkunda's fighters. The rebels deny this and blame their Mai-Mai militia foes. Uneasy allies In addition to reinforcements, world leaders want the Congo UN force to redeploy more effectively and be more robust. “We also think they (MONUC) should take the opportunity to re-read the rules of engagement,” Jean-Maurice Ripert, France's ambassador to the UN, said in a briefing to reporters. A key part of the UN mission's role in Congo has been supporting the new national army, a rag-tag amalgam made up of former government, rebel and militia factions from the last war. Peacekeepers have provided training, logistical and medical help and often fought alongside government soldiers, using heavy weapons and providing air support in battles against rebels. But the relationship has become progressively more uncomfortable, as retreating soldiers have looted, killed and raped civilians and even fired on the UN peacekeepers. “We have provided the army with significant support, but if the army is not there, then there is obviously a problem,” MONUC boss Alan Doss said recently. Others were less diplomatic. “The army rapes and kills. How can peacekeepers support criminals like these?” asked one diplomat. France's Ripert said that when MONUC's mandate came up for renewal next month UN diplomats would like to suggest the UN mission be given greater autonomy from the Congolese army. But even with more men, UN commanders on the ground are hamstrung by restrictions imposed by contributing nations on what operations their soldiers can take part in. The fear of blue helmets ending up in body bags has risen since eight Guatemalans were killed in a 2006 covert operation to hunt Ugandan rebels in east Congo. The peacekeepers have a healthy respect for Nkunda's battle-hardened fighters. Proposals have been mooted for other forces to intervene in east Congo. These have included suggestions for a European force, or one from the Great Lakes region or southern Africa. Despite calls for a repeat of the French-led European “Artemis” force that successfully deployed to stem bloodshed in Ituri in 2003, the global financial crisis and lack of stomach for involvement in another war, seems to be dampening that idea. The southern African group SADC already has military planners on the ground in Congo, and member Angola, which fought for the government in the last war, has offered troops. “SADC has to come because the UN has failed - we have a security pact with them and this is not just an internal conflict,” said one Congolese security source, referring to Congo government allegations of Rwandan support for Nkunda. Rwanda denies this, but has twice invaded Congo in the past, saying it was hunting Hutu rebels involved in its 1994 genocide. Reuters __
