* MONUSCO lacks helicopters for "robust" operations
* Security Council will not leave MONUSCO in lurch-envoy
(Adds diplomat's comment, details)
By Louis Charbonneau
ENTEBBE, Uganda, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Budget cuts mean U.N. peacekeepers in Democratic Republic of the Congo do not have enough helicopters to operate effectively in DRC's unstable east, a U.N. official said on Wednesday.
Under pressure from Congolese President Joseph Kabila, the U.N. Security Council agreed in May to allow a phased withdrawal of the U.N.'s biggest peacekeeping force (MONUSCO) and a shifting of its focus to reconstruction, training and other aid.
The move triggered a $73 million cut to MONUSCO's roughly $1.3 billion budget, of which $61 million affects the type and number of aircraft available to the force, Paul Buades, head of MONUSCO's logistic support base in Entebbe, told Reuters.
Buades said the cutbacks will make it harder to carry out operations such as the capture on Tuesday of a rebel commander accused of orchestrating a series of mass rapes in Congo.
"We can't support the forces in more robust operations like this," Buades said. "The jungle is the jungle," he said, referring to country's sprawling eastern provinces, which are roughly the size of France.
One diplomat travelling with U.N. Security Council delegates to Uganda and Sudan told Reuters that council members and troop contributing countries would keep working with MONUSCO to ensure the force's smooth transition to its new mandate.
In its new role MONUSCO is still providing logistical support for Congolese combat troops fighting rebels.
"Obviously MONUSCO still has work to do and we need to ensure it's able to do that work," he said on condition of anonymity.
Buades said eight attack helicopters were withdrawn when a group of Indian peacekeepers were pulled out of DCR. More Indian troops and helicopters are expected to go in coming months.
Before the cuts, the mission had around 68 helicopters and planes at its disposal, Buades said. It is now losing military helicopters and will be left with only commercial ones.
"It reduces the capability of the forces, he told reporters accompanying the 15-nation Security Council. "I cannot deliver up to the ambition (MONUSCO chief Roger Meece) wants."
Among those on the trip are U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin and Chinese envoy Li Baodong.
Congo's eastern provinces are plagued by Rwandan Hutu insurgents who have lingered in the vast and mineral-rich region since 1998-2003.
The U.N. base in Entebbe supplies vehicles and hardware to the world body's peacekeeping missions across the region. (Editing by Louise Ireland)
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