UN exposes continuing plunder of Congo

Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Uganda are still plundering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) despite withdrawing their armies from the vast central African state, according to a United Nations report unveiled yesterday.

They are doing it through corrupt DRC government officials and criminal cartels set up to perpetuate the pillaging started by their armies.

In its report to the UN Security Council, the panel named 54 people, including senior military and political officials in Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe and the DRC itself, as leaders of new "elite networks" exploiting the country's minerals, timber and wildlife. The DRC is rich in gold, diamonds, cobalt, copper and coltan, which is used in mobile phones.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Speaker of Zimbabwe's Parliament and President Robert Mugabe's preferred successor, was named in the report as the key strategist for the Zimbabwean branch of the elite network. Mr Mnangagwa was accused, in an investigative report in the Spanish newspaper El Pais three weeks ago, of facilitating the smuggling of diamonds from the DRC via Harare International Airport to their final destinations. He denied the allegations.

Other senior figures named in the UN report include the Rwandan army chief-of-staff, James Kabarebe, the DRC Minister of the Presidency Augustin Katumba Mwanke, and the Ugandan army chief-of-staff Major General James Kazini.

The report said: "The looting that was previously conducted by the armies themselves has been replaced by organised systems of embezzlement, tax fraud, extortion, the use of stock options as kickbacks and diversion of state funds."

The panel called on the UN to impose financial restrictions on 29 companies and 54 individuals allegedly involved in the pillaging. Most are in Africa but the list includes four Belgian diamond firms and the Belgian Groupe George Forrest mining operation, which is in partnership with the OM Group, based in Ohio.

In areas under DRC government control, Congolese officials colluded with Zimbabwe to transfer at least £3.2bn worth of assets from state mining companies to private firms over the past three years, without compensation, the report said.

The UN experts also accused a Zimbabwean businessman of procuring military equipment from British Aerospace in violation of European sanctions. They named John Bredenkamp as a key investor in a service company, which represents British Aerospace, Dornier of France and Agusta of Italy in Africa.

The report alleged he offered to mediate sales of British Aerospace military equipment to Congo. But the panel said he procured aircraft parts for Zimbabwe's military, which was propping up the Kinshasa government.There is no suggestion that British Aerospace, Dornier or Agusta knew that parts were going to Zimbabwe.

A separate part of the report also names 85 multinationals in South Africa, Europe and the United States that have allegedly contravened guidelines on conflict zones set down by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. These include Anglo American, Barclays Bank, Bayer A G, De Beers diamond company and the Cabot Corp.

The Security Council will discuss the report on Thursday.