The United Nations is probing charges of rape and sexual abuse levelled against three Pakistani peacekeepers by a woman in Haiti, barely a week after six UN soldiers were arrested on similar charges in Congo. The probe comes in the wake of a report lodged over the weekend by a 23-year-old woman accusing the soldiers of raping her. All the three men have been withdrawn from the Gonaives area where the alleged incident occurred, a UN official said.
He said the accused soldiers claim that they had paid for sex.
UN indispensable, says Annan
The latest incident came as the world body is investigating cases of rape and sexual abuse by peacekeepers in Congo, where some of them are alleged to have lured girls as young as 13 by paying money or offering food.
The United Nations cannot prosecute the peacekeepers and can only ask for their recall and it is for their respective governments to prosecute them though world body extends all cooperation.
The UN has banned sex between peacekeepers and local population in Congo and it is not yet known whether a similar ban would be extended to Haiti in view of the allegations.
Pakistan has some 250 police officers in Congo to assist the local police.
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