A UN report said that US crackdown on so called conflict minerals in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has backfired by pushing trade deeper into the hands of criminals, including at least one former rebel leader.

The finding underscores the difficulty faced by both the United States and Congo governments in choking off funding to eastern Congo's roving armed bands, believed responsible for thousands of rapes and killings of villagers.

In an effort to pressure Congo's rebels, the United States adopted a law last year requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission to write rules forcing companies to prove minerals they derived from Congo are conflict free.

But the rules have not been finalised due to wide opposition from companies and industry groups, creating uncertainty that has led international trading firms to virtually stop all purchases from Congo.

Mr Gregory Salter who worked as a consultant for the UN report told Reuters that "(This) has mainly led to a loss of production and increased criminality, which I think everyone would agree is not a great result.”

Eight years after the official end of a war that killed more than 5 million people, Congo has struggled to tackle rebel groups and criminal elements within its own armed forces that haunt the densely forested east and enrich themselves on illegal mining.

Congo has some of the world's largest deposits of minerals including tin and coltan used in making cell phones and computers, but decades of conflict and corruption mean most of the population remains mired in poverty, a situation made worse by "conflict mineral" crackdown.

(Sourced from Thomson Reuters)