A fact-finding team sent to eastern DR Congo last month to look into allegations of sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers found no evidence that such offenses took place, the military chief of the UN mission in DRCongo said.

"We sent a fact-finding mission in the localities in South Kivu and North Kivu where allegedly there were SEA (sexual exploitation and abuse) cases," MONUC force commander General Babacar Gaye told a press conference here.

allegations of sexual violence by un soldiers "In both cases..., there was nothing on the ground (as) evidence that something took place," he noted.

The team interviewed internally displaced persons, local leaders and medical staff in the areas of Goma-Sake and Rutshuru but did not record any allegations of SEA committed by peacekeepers, "nor did it bring to light new factual elements that would require the opening of a formal investigation," according to a UN summary of the findings.

The team, which was led by a senior MONUC military officer, was sent July 23 to reinforce preventive measures against SEA by peacekeepers.

Last month Gaye said he was concerned at "persistent rumours of misconduct, and hoped the fact-finding team would shed light on them."

Other cases may have gone undetected

In a directive to all brigade commanders on June 27, Gaye said that 10 cases of sexual exploitation and abuse had been investigated by military police in 2008, but he was concerned that other cases might have gone undetected.

allegations of sexual violence by un soldiers He then said he was particularly concerned about possible breaches of conduct by soldiers in remote locations and stressed that any evidence brought to light by the fact-finding team would be formally investigated by the UN?s investigative arm.

Cases of sexual abuse have soared since the DRCongo army launched a joint operation with troops from neighbouring Rwanda in late January against Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

FDLR rebels have been operating out of eastern Congo since the aftermath of Rwanda's 1994 genocide by majority Hutus against the Tutsi minority. Some of its members are accused of being among the main perpetrators of the massacres.

MONUC fields some 17,000 UN troops, mostly in the northeastern part of the country, where government forces have been fighting Ugandan and Rwandan rebels for several years, and some 1.8 million people have been displaced.