(Adds comments from MONUC's Doss) By Joe Bavier KINSHASA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) accused U.N. peacekeepers in Congo on Wednesday of failing to protect civilians by not reacting to attacks by Ugandan rebels that have killed hundreds. The United Nations mission MONUC, under growing pressure to stem violence by all factions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said it was not being given the tools to do the job. Around 900 civilians have been massacred in Congo's remote northeast since Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels began reprisal attacks in response to a December offensive aimed at stamping out one of Africa's longest rebellions. "Shocked by the extreme violence of the LRA, MSF teams do not comprehend the inaction of the blue berets to protect the people," MSF said in a statement on the LRA attacks. "The MONUC contingent has never intervened to protect people in towns under attack, even as the attacks multiplied." MONUC chief Alan Doss told reporters in Geneva that his force in areas where the LRA have been operating was limited to protecting an air base for the Ugandan-led operations. "I have said publicly that we cannot defend the population with 200 people in such an immense area," he said on Wednesday. The MONUC mission is the largest U.N. force in the world with some 17,000 soldiers. But just a few are deployed in Haut-Uele district in the northeast while it has been stretched by another rebellion in the eastern region of North Kivu. MSF said that during one attack by Ugandan rebels "the blue berets remained holed up in their base". U.N. forces have faced accusations of failing to do all they could to protect civilians during numerous missions, including Rwanda's 1994 genocide and during fighting in Sudan last year. The U.N. force was not involved in the Ugandan-led operation against the LRA rebels, notorious for atrocities. MSF said more massacres were likely and called for action from MONUC. But the force has been tied down by fighting in the east, where Tutsi-led rebels forced back government forces and left U.N. peacekeepers as the only line of defence for the North Kivu capital, Goma. The picture changed last month, however, when the Tutsi rebels agreed to stop fighting and Rwandan troops crossed to Congo to help hunt down Rwandan Hutu rebels whose presence has been central to 15 years of violence in the region. Aid workers fear the operations will mean more civilian deaths while the United Nations is struggling to find countries to send more peacekeepers. The U.N. Security Council has authorised a further 3,000 but none have arrived. "So far the response has been lukewarm," Doss said. "I believe we've approached up to 65 countries, including European countries, and have not yet had the response that we would wish." U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched a public appeal for countries offer men yesterday, as just Bangladesh has confirmed an offer of troops and Belgium an aircraft. (Additional reporting and writing by David Lewis in Dakar; additional reporting by Jonathan Lynn in Geneva; editing by Michael Roddy)
Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda salutes during a rally in Rutshuru, 70 km (45 miles) north of Goma in eastern Congo, November 22, 2008. Rwanda and Congo on January 23, 2009 ...
