'Shady arms deals fuelling war in the DRC'

[dArKeR]

United Nations - The key to ending the civil war and the illegal exploitation of the Democratic Republic of Congo's wealth is to break the "vicious cycle" of arms shipments and the plunder of natural resources, a United Nations-appointed panel that spent three years investigating the plunder of the country's riches said.

In its final report to the Security Council released on Tuesday, the panel called on the international community to focus on halting the flow of illegal arms, which it called the weakest element in the cycle.

The panel gave the 15 council members detailed information on groups and individuals involved in arms trafficking, which is funded by the illegal sale of the DRC's diamonds, gold and other riches and is fuelling the conflict in the heart of Africa.

But that information was not released, leaving it up to the council, which will discuss the report on Thursday, to decide whether to make it public. UN officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said identifying those involved in arms trafficking could jeopardise peace efforts in the DRC.

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