RAPAPORT… The United Nations peacekeeping boss in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) expressed his deep concerns for continued violence against diamond diggers being evicted from neighboring Angola.
Alan Doss, head of MONUC in the DRC, told Radio France Internationale that his office has recieved several thousand complaints alleging rape and physical abuse against the diggers as police search bodies for hidden stones.
Angola contends the Congolese diggers operate illegally and the governmnet has expelled some 30,000 so far, according to MONUC.
Additional reporting by Dialog NewsEdge