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Thursday, September 2, 2010

U.N. delays publication of Congo report til Oct. 1

* Report delayed for a month to allow comment
* Rwanda had rejected allegations in leaked draft

GENEVA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The United Nations is delaying publication of its report on atrocities in Congo until Oct. 1 to give concerned states a chance to comment, the U.N. said on Thursday.
The report had been expected to be published this week. A leaked draft seen by Reuters said Rwandan troops may have committed genocide in Congo, a charge rejected by the government of President Paul Kagame.
"Following requests, we have decided to give concerned states a further month to comment on the draft and I have offered to publish any comments alongside the report itself on 1 October, if they so wish," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement.
Her spokesman Rupert Colville declined to say whether Rwanda was among the states seeking to comment on the report. The draft of the report covers some 600 serious crimes committed by various forces in the former Zaire during the period 1993-2003.
Rwanda said on Tuesday that it was considering pulling out all its troops from U.N. peacekeeping missions, starting with Darfur, following the leaked report. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing by Jonathan Lynn and Noah Barkin)

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