2010-04-10
KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congo's government accused United Nations peacekeepers on Friday of failing to protect civilians when rebels attacked a northern town last weekend, but said the violence should not delay a possible U.N. withdrawal.

What was a remote insurgency spread to a provincial capital as the U.N. peacekeeping mission, which is much criticised but backs a weak national army against rebel groups across Democratic Republic of Congo, is under pressure to start withdrawing this year.

"Having the chance to stop the carnage of the first death before their eyes ... (they) stayed snug in their quarters," Information Minister Lambert Mende said of U.N. peacekeepers in the town of Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur province.

"(It) seriously questions the methodology put in place by the U.N. mission which is to protect civilians," Mende told reporters on his return from a visit to Mbandaka with the president and other ministers.

A spokesman for the U.N. mission, which is the world's biggest with nearly 22,000 men, questioned Mende's version of events and said it was not clear if the incident would have an effect on drawdown plans.

Dozens of rebels invaded Mbandaka by boat on Easter Sunday as people attended mass in church, attacking the governor's residence and taking over the airport.

Mende said seven soldiers, three policemen, 21 rebels and two civilians were killed in the violence. The U.N. has confirmed three of its workers also died.

Mende also said a Spanish doctor had been kidnapped, though the Spanish embassy in Kinshasa could not confirm the report.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission is under pressure from the government to start withdrawing from the country in June, and to leave in 2011, during which elections are due to be held.

Despite the official end to a 1998-2003 war that killed millions, violence simmers in much of the east and the north, where reports of a massacre last December, along with the Easter attack have raised questions over a hasty U.N. drawdown.

The U.N. Security Council is due to discuss in May a plan to withdraw 2,000 troops by June this year, from eight of the country's 11 provinces. The vote will also determine a new mandate that will include an exit strategy.

"This option to withdraw 2,000 troops came before the attack in Equateur. We have to wait to see if the withdrawal will proceed as planned," said U.N. spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai.

Mende said the recapturing of the airport within 24 hours, which was with the help of the U.N., showed the nation was ready to meet its security challenges and "Congo bashers" should not seek to profit from the attack.

"Heavily armed attackers constitute a potential danger that the government takes very seriously, without it justifying the trusteeship of Congo," he said.

The attack follows months of sporadic attacks that began as an ethnic dispute over fishing rights, but diplomats say it has since taken on wider political significance.