Article

2007-03-24 Africa Subsaharan

The head of Congo's army said in a nationally televised address Friday that security forces had regained control of the capital after two days of intense fighting against the militia of a former warlord who lost last year's presidential runoff. Lt. Gen. Sungilanga Kisempia said order had been restored in Kinshasa and that Jean-Pierre Bemba's army had fled, according to the broadcast on state-run RTNC television. He urged members of the militia to turn themselves in at the headquarters of the U.N. mission in Congo, saying that if they don't, "We will pursue them to the very end."

Bemba, who sought refuge inside the South African embassy, accused the government of starting the violence and said he had asked his men to stand down, but that he no longer commands them. "I am not in control," he told the British Broadcasting Corp. Congo's chief prosecutor has issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of high treason. "He has caused serious infractions by organizing a militia and by ordering looting ... his actions amount to high treason and we will pursue him wherever he is," Tsaimanga Mukenda said, adding he would ask parliament to strip Bemba of his immunity as a newly elected senator.

Sporadic gunfire could still be heard in the capital late Friday, but the intensity had significantly decreased from earlier in the day when mortar rounds sent buildings up in flames, including a nearby oil refinery. Hospital officials said at least 12 people were killed and as many as 47 wounded in two days of fighting between security forces and Bemba's personal guard, believed to number in the thousands. An Italian citizen was among the wounded, the Italian Foreign Ministry said. The ministry gave no details about the man, but the Italian news agency ANSA said he was struck by a bullet.

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Bemba came in second in last year's presidential election, the country's first in more than 40 years. After losing the run-off, he promised to disband his army, but has repeatedly missed deadlines to do so, most recently last week.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo welcomed the return of order to the capital, but said it regretted the use of force to resolve the situation. "The immediate losses and damage are plainly evident," the mission said in a statement.

More than 90 members of Bemba's army had turned themselves in at the U.N. base in the capital, according to an official with the mission who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The army had seized two of Bemba's three residences in the capital, the governor of Kinshasa, Andre Kimbuta, said Friday.

The street fighting erupted Thursday near Bemba's home and appeared to ease by Thursday night, only to resume Friday. During the height of the fighting, mortar rounds landed as far as 2 1/2 miles away in Brazzaville, the capital of the neighboring Republic of Congo, damaging the home of the defense minister, said government spokesman Alain Akouala. In Kinshasa, the Spanish Embassy was hit and thick black smoke poured out of a damaged oil refinery.

Posted by Fred 2007-03-24 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11140 views since 2007-05-07] Top

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