PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Three Pakistani peacekeepers working as UN peacekeepers in Haiti have been cleared of allegations that they raped a woman on a banana plantation, a top UN official said on Wednesday.

An investigation by the UN and Haitian police concluded that the men paid for consensual sex, said Jean Lafaille, commander of the UN police unit in the central city of Gonaives, where the 23 year-old woman was allegedly raped.

"We've concluded that there was no crime, though internal rules about prostitution were broken," said Lafaille. UN regulations forbid solicitation.

It was unclear what other penalties the men could face, said Damian Onses-Cardona, spokesman for the 7,400-member peacekeeping force.

Calls to UN headquarters in New York were not immediately returned.

Lafaille said the investigation began when locals told UN peacekeepers they had seen two of the men engaging in sexual acts with the woman in a banana field on February
18. The third man was present but didn't engage in the sexual act, Lafaille said.

When interviewed by police and UN inspectors, the woman acknowledged she had been paid for the sex, Lafaille said. Attempts to reach the woman were unsuccessful.

The investigation comes as the United Nations investigates sexual abuse allegations in a handful of countries around the world. The most notable case is Congo, where 150 allegations of sexual abuse include rape, paedophilia, and solicitation.

The United Nations has 64,000 troops serving in 16 peacekeeping missions around the world.

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