DR CONGO: Mortars shake Congo capital as government seeks arrest of former rebel leader

Record ID: 376683

  • Title: DR CONGO: Mortars shake Congo capital as government seeks arrest of former rebel leader
  • Date: 24th March 2007
  • Summary: VIEW OF KINSHASA STREET, WITH LARGE PLUME OF BLACK SMOKE RISING IN DISTANCE, AUDIO OF GUNFIRE
  • Embargoed: 8th April 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA4EO6U3A5L9X2WUSR4BOXHCM9
  • Story Text: Gunfire echoes through Kinshasa streets as government troops battle forces loyal to a former rebel leader. Heavy gun and mortar fire shook Congo's capital Kinshasa for a second day on Friday (March 23) as government troops battled forces of a former rebel leader who lost elections last year meant to end years of warfare.
    Democratic Republic of Congo's state prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for high treason for former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, blaming him for killings and rape.
    Bodies lay in the street and several columns of smoke rose from fires across the city including one near Bemba's residence in the city's plush Gombe district, which has seen the worst of the fighting. It was not clear how many people had been killed.
    The battles, the first in the city since an October run-off vote won by President Joseph Kabila, started on Thursday (March 22) when Bemba's forces defied a government order to disarm under a plan to cut Bemba's security detail to just 12 police officers.
    The 17,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force said loyalists were gaining ground on Bemba's fighters, some of whom fought in his Ugandan-backed rebel movement during the vast country's devastating 1998-2003 war. Nearly 4 million people died in the conflict, mainly through hunger and disease.
    There were reports that some of Bemba's men were starting to surrender at U.N. bases in the city. One resident said Bemba fighters, who briefly occupied a nearby apartment building, fled early on Friday leaving behind weapons and uniforms.
    Residents reported incidents of looting across the city by soldiers from both sides as well as gangs of street children.
    Bemba, who has taken refuge in South Africa's embassy, appealed for an end to the fighting. He has broad support among the city's estimated 8 million or more people.
    Regional power South Africa has taken a key role in brokering Congo's lengthy peace process.
    The U.N. force, known by its French acronym MONUC, has been using 25 armoured personnel carriers to pluck some 500 civilians from parts of the city hit by the violence.
    Dozens were killed last year in fighting between Bemba's forces and Kabila's guard before an October run-off vote.

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