SWITZERLAND: ICRC TEMPORARILY SUSPENDS ITS ACTIVITIES IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AFTER SIX OF ITS AID WORKERS HAVE BEEN KILLED
Record ID:
648589
SWITZERLAND: ICRC TEMPORARILY SUSPENDS ITS ACTIVITIES IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AFTER SIX OF ITS AID WORKERS HAVE BEEN KILLED
- Title: SWITZERLAND: ICRC TEMPORARILY SUSPENDS ITS ACTIVITIES IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO AFTER SIX OF ITS AID WORKERS HAVE BEEN KILLED
- Date: 27th April 2001
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (APRIL 27, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. LV/SV EXTERIOR OF ICRC HEADQUARTERS IN GENEVA; ICRC FLAG AT HALF MAST (2 SHOTS) 0.12 2. SLV/CU JUAN MARTINEZ, ICRC SPOKESMAN FOR AFRICA, ON THE PHONE AT HIS OFFICE; MAP SHOWING BUNIA REGION (2 SHOTS) 0.22 3. MCU (French) MARTINEZ SAYING "We were informed last night that Uganda's military authorities that are in Bunia had heard a rumour concerning security problems in the region and in fact an ICRC team sent on an evaluation assignment was found by an Ugandan troop. There were six ICRC aid workers dead. Their bodies have been found around the two vehicles. The Ugandan soldiers brought their bodies to Bunia." 0.51 4. CU (French) MARTINEZ SAYING "There are two foreign ICRC aid workers and four local staff. There was one 36-year-old Swiss nurse from Bern and a 54-year-old Colombian worker from Bogota and four national aid workers, including the two drivers and two assistants who worked in Bunia." 1.16 5. MCU (French) MARTINEZ SAYING "At this stage we have no further details about the attack, the only thing we know is that their bodies were found around the vehicles. We are shocked because it was a relatively calm region, they knew the road, they had never had any problems before. We don't understand what happened." 1.40 6. MCU (French) MARTINEZ SAYING "We won't leave the region but we will temporarily suspend our activities, until we have more details on what happened." 1.54 7. CU MAP OF REGION 1.59 (W5) BRAZZAVILLE, CONGO REPUBLIC (FILE - OCTOBER 12, 1997) (REUTERS) 8. SV/SLV SOLDIERS OF FORMER MARXIST MILITARY RULER OF CONGO REPUBLIC, DENIS SASSOU NGUESSO'S COBRA MILITIA; SOLDIERS WALKING THROUGH DAMAGED AREAS; DAMAGED BUILDINGS (7 SHOTS) 2.46 (W5) BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI (FILE - JUNE 11, 1996) (REUTERS) 9. SLV ICRC VEHICLES 2.55 10. SV RED CROSS AID WORKERS AT WORK (4 SHOTS) 3.30 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 12th May 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Reuters ID: LVAC2VLYUI64NXPB9EXUNNXILTBY
- Story Text: After announcing that six of its aid workers had been
killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it will temporarily
suspend its activities in the region.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
said on Friday (April 27) that six of its aid workers,
including two foreign nationals, had been attacked and killed
in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Juan Martinez, ICRC spokesman for Africa, said that the
attack, in which a Swiss nurse from Bern and a Colombian
relief worker from Bogota died along with four local staff,
occurred on Thursday (April 26) some 30 km (20 miles) north of
the town of Bunia.
"At this stage we have no further details about the
attack, the only thing we know is that their bodies were
found around the vehicles. We are shocked because it was a
relatively calm region, they knew the road, they had never had
any problems before. We don't understand what happened,"
Martinez said.
The United Nations has been seeking to secure a lasting
peace deal between government and rebel forces in Africa's
third biggest country.
The victims, part of the ICRC's delegation in Bunia, had
been on a routine trip to distribute medical aid in an area
they knew well when the attack occurred.
"We won't leave the region but we will temporarily
suspend our activities, until we have more details on what
happened," Martinez said.
The six bodies were found by officials of the Ugandan
army, which has troops in the eastern part of the country.
Leaders of the various foreign-backed rebel groups in the
multi-sided war for the country, once known as Zaire, recently
agreed a ceasefire under which the United Nations was to
deploy observers along the former frontline. The war has
dragged a variety of foreign armies into the vast and
mineral-rich country since 1998.
The conflict pits the Congo government, supported by
forces from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia against rival rebel
factions who control large areas of the north and east with
the help of Uganda and Rwanda.
The deaths were the first ICRC fatalities in Africa since
five aid workers were killed in Burundi in 1995.
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