Peacekeepers under abuse suspicion

July 22, 2007

The United Nations suspended a Moroccan military contingent of 734 soldiers from its peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast while it investigated allegations of widespread sexual abuse, the world body said. Two U.N. officials identified the peacekeepers under investigation as Moroccans and one said entire contingents had been involved with the young girls passed from unit after unit, resulting in the birth of illegitimate children.