UN mission in Liberia looking in to alleged miss conduct by peacekeepers.

The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has dispatched a preliminary fact-finding team to look into an allegation that two members of its military personnel were involved in a possible case of serious misconduct involving the beating of a teenage boy.

The incident is alleged to have occurred on 4 December in Bong County, according to a statement issued today by the Mission, which added that it first learned of the allegation on 29 December.

"The Mission takes such allegations extremely seriously and dispatched yesterday a preliminary fact-finding team," UNMIL Officer-in-Charge Waldemar Vrey said in the statement.

"While the facts in this case are being established, our thoughts are with the boy, whose condition remains moderately serious, and his family," he added.

The Mission has agreed to facilitate the transfer of the patient on humanitarian grounds from Phebe Hospital to JFK Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia"s capital.

"All necessary steps will be taken to establish the facts in this case," Mr. Vrey stated, while calling for all parties to remain calm and cooperate with those establishing the facts.

Among the tasks mandated to UNMIL by the Security Council is to continue to support the Government of Liberia to consolidate peace and stability in the country and protect civilians.