BRUSSELS - Research by International Peace Information Service, an independent Belgian institute, shows that European companies trading coltan in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) contribute to the financing of the Congolese war.

European development NGOs commissioned the report presented on Monday at a Brussels news conference.

The report investigated the commercial dealings of companies in eastern Congo and Rwanda, and named in the report of the UN Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources of the DRC.

Cogecom and Sogem (a subsidiary of Umicore, formerly Union Miniere) of Belgium, Masingiro of Germany, Chemie Pharmacie Holland of the Netherlands and the Swiss off-shore company Finmining are among the companies that were investigated.

"Some of these companies have played an important part in the continuation of the war by co-operating directly with the rebels or their Rwandan allies. Others indirectly financed the war through the taxes they paid to the warring factions," Jeroen Cuvelier, of the institute, said.

Coltan, an ore containing the rare tantalum metal, was singled out because it is an essential element in the production of mobile phones and computers, common tools of modern European lifestyle.

Congolese civil society delegates present at the news conference added that the exploitation of wood was a key issue in Congolese territory held by Ugandan-backed rebels.

"Much more forest has been destroyed in the last three years than in thirty years," one delegate said.

A coalition of 30 European development NGOs, most of them from the Concertation chretienne pour l'Afrique centrale/Great Lakes Advocacy Network and the Reseau Europeen Congo, expressed their support for the report's recommendations to governments, the UN, the EU and the private sector.

A key recommendation is the imposition of a temporary embargo on coltan and other natural resources originating from occupied Congo and countries involved in its war.

The report says that such a measure should allow the UN, the EU and national governments to investigate companies and nationals involved in the coltan trade, and to take measures to prevent this trade from contributing directly or indirectly to the financing of the war in the country.

"On 19 December 2001, the UN Security Council decided to postpone the decision on such a measure for another six months. This is unacceptable," Marc-Olivier Herman, of the European NGO coalition, said.

"European countries have a special responsibility. They should move ahead without delay. Leading European corporations such as Alcatel, Nokia and Siemens should immediately refrain from using components containing tantalum originating from [the] conflict area," he added.

The institute's researchers stated that there report was "only a step". It said, "Full-time investigations should be carried out by companies from countries not named in the report, especially the members of the UN Security Council." - Misanet-Irin