Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveler

Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveler - The plot thickens.

sometimes i visit these: Congogirl on Twitter / Bloglines Congogirl link / Congogirl's Links List on My Del.icio.us / Where IS DR Congo, anyway?? / Congo Daily / good summary article on DR Congo / Samantha Power's article, "Bystanders to Genocide" / Dizolele - Eye on Africa / Congo Blog - Ba Leki / Cedric Kalonji's photo blog / Extra Extra / Nayembi / Thirteen Wildlife Blogs from DR Congo / Babycatcher / Global Voices / Helene in RD Congo / ID Land - adventures in international development / John's Blog / Kim Gjerstad in Congo / On Safari with el Jorgito / The Salon of News and Thought / This is Zimbabwe / Bluehaired Mary / African Path / Global Bioethics Blog / Somewhere in Africa / Africa is a Country

December 2009


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	Wed, May. 24th, 2006 03:45 am

The plot thickens.

According to IRIN and the BBC, 32 "mercenaries" were arrested in Kinshasa. The reports claim that 19 South Africans, 10 Nigerians, and 3 Americans who came in to DR Congo from Iraq were 'plotting a coup' against the current regime.

A Roman Catholic priest thinks the charge is laughable in a country that has over 16,000 UN troops, which will, incidentally, be augmented with another 1500 from the European Union. But some think that employment of 16 of these people were employed by a security company in Matadi and several others as interpreters for a mining company worked as a cover for their real objective.

From the BBC report:

But Congolese Interior Minister Theophile Mbemba Fundu said the arrested men were military personnel.

"These men, bearing three different passports, were spotted at three strategic sites in the Congolese capital," Interior Minister Theophile Mbemba Fundu was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

"Apparently they are military personnel, most of whom came from Iraq."

And, there is another concern. According to IRIN, though perhaps the word 'coincides' should be operative, the charge

coincides with another call by DRC's leading opposition party, the l’Union pour la Democratie et le progres social (the Union for the Democracy and the social progress - UDPS) of Etienne Tshisekedi, for a demonstration on Wednesday.

"We will be in the streets this Wednesday to tell the government that the [political] transition ends 30 June and that it cannot organise elections after this time without dialogue," Raul Nsolwa, the head of the UDPS Youth Wing, said.

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EDIT: Everyone seems to want in on this story. I gues that's what happens when you say Mercenary and Coup in one sentence (not to mention 3 Americans). Here are the other versions:
CNN; Yahoo UK; Reuters; Boston Globe; Al Jazeera.

The Boston Globe version of the story also mentions presidential candidate Dr. Kashala, who has lived in the US for the past 20-odd years and works in cancer research. He has decided to run for president, and Omega Risk Solutions security company was involved in finding an operating location for Kashala. Also from the Globe,

Congolese opposition sources denounced the coup plot announcement as a diversionary tactic by Kabila's government.

They said the houses of several opposition figures in Kinshasa were surrounded by police early on Wednesday to stop them holding a planned demonstration.

Tags: africa, dr congo, elections, news

whythawk

	Thu, May. 25th, 2006 10:50 pm (UTC)

Bizarre story really - who does one stage a coup against in a country the size of western europe where no-one seems to be in charge?

congogirl

	Fri, May. 26th, 2006 01:19 am (UTC)

I guess the transition president, Kabila, who wasn't actually elected, but rather has been allowed to stay in power for the past 3 years. Now, of course, there is a possibility of him being elected, although whether freely and fairly remains to be seen.

It is a bizarre story nonetheless, particularly considering another blurb I saw today, which says that the three Americans were hired on as consultants for this Dr. candidate who has lived in the US for the past couple decades.

They say truth is stranger than fiction...