"Many atrocities and rights violations are being reported and blamed as much on the FDLR (Rwandan Hutu rebels) as the FARDC (Congolese army)" in Nord-Kivu province, Nestor Yombo-Djema of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) told a press briefing.

The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) "took about 15 hostages at Bingi (in the Lubero region) and demanded a ransom of 2,000 dollars (1,540 euros) for each prisoner," Yombo-Djema said.

That OCHA report was based on an account by a man who was released for 500 dollars and then hospitalised. "The conditions of detention for those taken hostage are terrible," according to the UN agency.

The remmants of the FDLR demand "taxes" from local people to work their own land and the FARDC carries out rights violations on the grounds that villagers cooperate with the rebels.

Last January, Rwandan troops joined the FARDC for a joint military operation against Rwandan rebels on Congolese soil. The Rwandans officially withdrew on February 26, after what both governments called a successful operation against the FDLR.

But clashes continue in the east. The UN and human rights groups have long accused both sides of excesses in the conflict, while the local population has blamed UN peacekeepers for not doing enough to stem the violence.

While MONUC is the UN's largest peacekeeping operation, with 17,000 soldiers, less than half are stationed in the country's restive eastern Nord-Kivu province.

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