2nd LD Writethru: UN peacekeeping mission chief in CAR resigns over allegations of abuse

The head of UN peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic (CAR) has resigned after latest allegations of abuse by peacekeepers, said UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon here on Wednesday.

Babacar Gaye of Senegal "tendered his resignation at my request, " Ban told reporters, saying he is "anguished, angered and ashamed " by recurrent reports over the years of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN forces.

"I believe the disturbing number of allegations we have seen in many countries -- but particularly in the Central African Republic in the period before UN peacekeepers were deployed and since -- speaks to the need to take action now," said Ban.

The UN chief's statement comes a day after international rights organization Amnesty International said they had evidence which strongly suggested that UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic had raped a 12-year-old girl and apparently indiscriminately killed a 16-year-old boy and his father.

"Our evidence strongly suggests that a UN peacekeeper raped a young girl and that UN peacekeeping forces indiscriminately killed two civilians," Joanne Mariner, senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty International, said in a statement issued by Amnesty on Tuesday.

Ban personally appeared before press to respond to the allegations as well as the broader issue of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers. He outlined his plans for immediate actions to address the problem which he said was turning trust in UN peacekeepers into fear.

Ban said he had convened a special meeting of the UN Security Council to take place Thursday to discuss the issue.

He also noted that he planned to speak with all the special representatives, force commanders and police commissioners in all peacekeeping operations via a joint video teleconference Thursday to underscore their responsibility for addressing the issue.

"Today and every day, my message is clear: Sexual exploitation and abuse of power have no place -- least of all in the United Nations which stands for the rights of the world's women and children," he stressed.

Pressure is mounting on the beleaguered UN mission in CAR ( MINUSCA), already under scrutiny over its recent handling of similar allegations. According to media reports, French soldiers sexually abused starving young boys at a center for internally displaced people in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic between December 2013 and June 2014. Endite