Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. would send legal and financial experts to help the Democratic Republic of Congo manage its finances and take action to ensure mineral resources aren’t funding warring militias.

The international community must look “at steps we can take to prevent the mineral wealth from the DRC ending up in the hands of those who fund the violence here,” Clinton told reporters after meeting with Congolese President Joseph Kabila on the banks of Lake Kivu in Goma, eastern Congo.

Clinton is the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Goma, where she conferred with Kabila on ways to professionalize the military, boost investment and prevent sexual violence against women. She brought up the case of five senior army officers accused of rape, Clinton said, following the meeting beneath a tent at a house that once belonged to former dictator Mobuto Sese Seko.

“We believe there can be more done to protect civilians” as the government fights militias, Clinton said, and the U.S. will give $17 million to help rape victims in the Goma area. New York-based Human Rights Watch said last month that Congolese forces fighting the militias are carrying out some of the rapes.

During her Goma visit, Clinton toured a camp of thousands of displaced Congolese and talked with rape victims. She also met UN peacekeeping troops based in the area.

Clinton praised Kabila’s outreach to the president of neighboring Rwanda, Paul Kagame, calling it “an important part” of bringing peace and stability to the region.

Military Campaigns

Congo has recently stepped up military campaigns against ethnic Hutu rebels from Rwanda in the eastern South Kivu province, in some cases with the help of Rwandan troops. More than 500,000 people have fled their homes in South Kivu since January, according to the Geneva-based United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Congo is Clinton’s fourth stop on a seven-nation tour of Africa. She heads next to Nigeria. Before arriving in Congo, Clinton met yesterday with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and discussed how “there’s a lot of money being made in eastern Congo because of the mineral trade,” she said.

“There has to be a way for the United States, the U.K., France and Rwanda and everybody” to prevent militia violence that is related to the mining activity, Clinton added.

Mineral Wealth

Clinton stressed that she wants to help Congo become compliant with the Norway-based Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, a global standard that aims to improve accountability in the mining, oil and natural gas industries. It was a point she made in Angola as well.

Many of the mineral producers in Congo are “small corporations,” Clinton said today. “This is a very challenging problem, but we are going to address it.”

Congo is home to extensive mineral wealth even as its 66 million people remain among the poorest in the world. The country exports diamonds, copper, cobalt, gold, tin, zinc and coltan, the last of which is used in mobile phones.

“Pressure needs to be put on the government” to prevent mining-related violence, said Dave Peterson, director for African affairs at the U.S.-funded National Endowment for Democracy. While Kabila will talk about his belief in human rights, the government does “virtually nothing to stop what’s going on” in eastern Congo, Peterson said.

Rights Activist Jailed

A human rights activist who partners with the National Endowment, Golden Misabiko, was imprisoned by Congolese authorities on July 23 after he published a report criticizing Congo’s agreement earlier this year with the French nuclear power group Areva SA for uranium exploration. Misabiko called for the contract with the company to be made public and for an assessment of health conditions in communities near uranium mining areas.

Clinton raised his case today with Congolese Foreign Minister Alexis Thambwe-Mwamba. When asked why Misabiko has been detained, Thambwe-Mwamba said “we would like to have some clarification on the statements he made.”

From the press conference, Clinton’s motorcade bounced along rocky roads to the outskirts of Goma to a camp that houses about 18,000 people who fled conflict. Clinton heard tales of women who have been raped in a nearby forest where they go to collect firewood and food.

The residents, many barefoot and in torn, dirty clothes, lined the main track through the camp called Mugunga 1, standing outside their makeshift homes of canvas held up by wooden poles over the dirt floors.

Student Forum

In a forum with University of Kinshasa students yesterday, Clinton confronted questions about past U.S. involvement in backing authoritarian rule in Congo, formerly known as Zaire.

“I cannot excuse the past and will not try,” Clinton told the questioner. “Many countries, including many in Europe and many in Africa, have interfered with the development and the potential of the Congolese people.”

The U.S. is now competing for influence in Congo with China, which has proposed a $9 billion loan for infrastructure improvements in Congo in exchange for control of 10 million metric tons of copper and 600 million tons of cobalt.

Congo, which doesn’t have a single north-south or east-west highway, welcomes investment and loans from all countries, Thambwe-Mwamba said. The Congolese government wants to partner with countries “that are willing to help us with our infrastructure so that we can solve problems with electricity, water and poverty,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Janine Zacharia in Goma, Congo, at jzacharia@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 11, 2009 12:12 EDT