UN peace missions in fraud probe

The 17,000-strong peace force in DR Congo is the UN's largest

The UN is probing allegations of corrupt contracts linked to its peacekeeping missions amounting to $610m (£304m), a UN spokesperson says.

An internal report alleges procurement staff were involved in cases of fraud and misconduct in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Haiti.

The cases are being considered by the UN's internal justice department.

Other UN missions in Africa - in Liberia, Eritrea, Sudan and Kenya - are also said to be under investigation.

"We are well aware that there have been problems in procurement," UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters.

"This is why we are moving full steam ahead with procurement reform in order to have a system that is much tighter and transparent, leaving less room for abuse."

The UN came under heavy fire in 2005 when an investigation into the oil-for-food programme that it operated with Saddam Hussein's Iraq found that the scheme had been mismanaged and was riddled with corruption.

There have been previous allegations of misconduct involving the UN mission in the DR Congo (Monuc), which has some 17,000 troops in the country.

Last year Pakistan dismissed as "not credible" allegations that its troops in the peace force traded in gold and sold weapons to militias in DR Congo.

And in May 2004 an investigation was ordered into multiple reports of sexual abuse, rape and misconduct by Monuc forces in refugee camps.

Last month, Sri Lanka promised to look into allegations that its peacekeepers in Haiti, where the UN has a 9,000-strong force, paid for sex, in some cases with underage girls.