>FYI > >AMADOU SCATTRED JANNEH > > > > > >Congo’s Kabila shot >in apparent coup bid > > >Conflicting reports over whether Central African president is dead > > >MSNBC NEWS SERVICES > > > >KINSHASA, Congo, Jan. 16 — President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, >Laurent Kabila, was shot during an apparent coup d’etat attempt on Tuesday. >The Belgian Foreign Ministry reported that Kabila died after being hit by >two bullets, though other sources, including the senior U.S. officials, >cautioned that there were conflicting reports on the Central African >leader’s fate. > > AN INTENSE 30-minute gunbattle broke out late Tuesday at Kabila’s >palatial residence in the capital Kinshasa, followed by reports that a >presidential helicopter landed at Kinshasa’s main hospital. There were >unconfirmed reports that the aircraft was carrying Kabila’s son Joseph >Kabila, who had apparently been injured. > In the latest word on the incident, characterized by officials in >the capital as a coup attempt, Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said >Kabila died after being shot by one of his bodyguards. Michel was quoted by >the Belga news agency as saying news of Kabila’s death had been confirmed >by two reliable sources. > He said Kabila was apparently shot by one of his bodyguards in the >presence of army generals whom he had dismissed. > The Belgian Foreign Ministry said that Kabila had been killed in the >shooting after being hit by two bullets. > “The circumstances are too confused to know more,” Belgian foreign >ministry spokesman Koen Vervaeke said. Belgium is the former colonial ruler >of Congo. > >CONFLICTING REPORTS > But the Belgian statement came amid conflicting reports from other >quarters. A senior U.S. official cast doubt on the Belgian statement. >“There are still conflicting reports, even within the Belgian Foreign >Ministry,” said the official. “Something has happened to (Kabila) — he has >been shot, he is wounded — but as of now we do not know if he has died. >Indeed, he could be dead. We just don’t know.” > > > Troubled Central Africa > > A look behind the ethnic troubles of the region > > • Troubled Central Africa >> Earlier a source close to the presidency told Reuters that >Kabila was seriously wounded in the shooting by one of his own bodyguards >and was flown to a Kinshasa hospital by helicopter. > “The president took two bullets, one in the back, another in the >leg. He’s seriously wounded and was taken to hospital by helicopter,” the >source said. > But a regional security official in Kigali, Rwanda, said he had >spoken to soldiers in the Congo who had told him that Kabila was shot and >killed in the bedroom of his palace. > > “Three hours ago, some (government) soldiers burst into Kabila’s >bedroom and shot him dead. I am talking to people who were part of the >action. I am sure that he is dead,” the source told Reuters by telephone >from Kigali. > Interior Minister Gaetan Kakudji, a close ally of Kabila, went on >state television in the evening to say that Kabila himself had ordered a >general state of alert in the capital, where an overnight curfew would be >enforced. > >APPEAL FOR CALM > A Republic of Congo official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, >said it was not known who was in control of the government. > His spoke hours after the gunfire broke out around the home of >Kabila, who has been fighting multiple rebel armies for more than two years >in what some diplomats call the First African World War. > Shortly after the shooting, Kabila aide Eddy Kapend went on national >television to appeal for calm, but he made no mention of the violence. >Kapend ordered all airports and borders closed. > Following the broadcast, Kinshasa residents hurried home, and many >streets were quickly deserted. Truckloads of armed soldiers patrolled the >streets in the capital of the vast Central African nation. > Kabila’s hilltop residence, known as the Marble Palace, is usually >heavily guarded by soldiers and a North Korean-made tank. >Advertisement > > The Congolese president has been fighting a civil war since August >1998, when rebel forces backed by Kabila’s former allies, Rwanda and >Uganda, turned against him. In the war’s early stages, the rebels reached >the outskirts of Kinshasa before being turned back by Kabila’s army, which >is now supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe. > Kabila came to power in May 1997 following a Uganda- and >Rwanda-sponsored rebellion against former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who >ruled the nation then called Zaire. > The world community initially welcomed Kabila, who many hoped would >be a vast improvement over Mobutu’s decades-long rule, which left his >nation broke and with an infrastructure that barely functioned. > But Kabila quickly alienated himself, inviting close friends and >relatives into the government, angering investors and obstructing a U.N. >investigation of reports that his rebel army had slaughtered thousands of >Hutu refugees. > Kabila’s government signed a peace agreement last year with the >rebel movements, though fighting has continued and each side has >consistently accused the other of violations. > > > >Africa's hotspots > > >Sudan >Conflict: Civil and separatist war between Islamic government and >predominantly Christian groups in the south. >Duration: On and off for 40 years, often accompanied by famine. >U.S. involvement: Diplomatic backing for Sudanese People's Liberation >Organization. Reports of CIA arms flowing through Eritrea, Uganda to >rebels. > >Algeria >Conflict: Civil war between secular government and Islamic militants. >Horrific massacres and assassinations are rampant. Recent amnesty for >guerrillas only partially successful, though the more moderate of two >groups fighting the government has laid down its arms. >Duration: Since 1992 when military annulled elections moderate Islamists >were poised to win. >U.S. involvement: U.S praised Algeria's effort to reintroduce democracy, >with reservations. Meanwhile, the most virulent guerrilla group, the Armed >Islamic Group or GIA, was linked to a plot to plant bombs in U.S. on New >Year's Eve. > >Western Sahara >Conflict: War of independence from Morocco. >U.S. involvement: Strong ally of Morocco. Former Secretary of State James >Baker involved in mediation efforts. > >Sierra Leone >Conflict: Civil war between rebel forces and government. After Nigerian-led >ECOMOG peacekeepers were replaced by U.N. troops in April 2000, the July >1999 peace treaty quickly fell apart. The rebel RUF took hundreds of U.N. >peacekeepers hostage. >Duration: Since 1991 >U.S. involvement: President Kabbah has support from the US, Britain, the UN >and the Organization of African Unity. There has been a presence of >American and British military advisers in his military restructuring >program. The U.N.’s attempts to involve Western nations in Africa >peacekeeping, however, have suffered a setback because of the Sierra Leone >crisis. > >Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) >Conflict: Civil war between President Laurent Kabila and rebels backed by >Uganda and Rwanda. Zimbabwe, Angola, others sent troops for Kabila. >Duration: Since mid-1998. >U.S. involvement: Washington backed Mobuto through the Cold War. U.S. >ditched him in 1997 as Kabila's rebels gained. U.S. ties with Kabila have >soured since new rebellion began in 1998. U.N. and African peace mediation >so far has failed. > >Republic of Congo >Conflict: Civil war between elected government of President Pascal Lissouba >and rebellious military factions. >Duration: Since 1997 >U.S. involvement: Minor. France maintains a military presence in Congo and >supports the Lissouba government. > >Burundi >Conflict: Ethnic civil conflict between Tutsi government and Hutu rebels. >Duration: Up to 150,000 people have died since 1996. >U.S. involvement: Tutsi rebels in Congo have driven Hutu exiles back home, >feeding rebel movement. U.S. supported economic sanctions against Burundi >for human rights abuses. Former South African President Nelson Mandela >leading U.N. sanctioned peace initiative. > >Rwanda >Conflict: Ethnic civil war between Tutsi government and Hutu majority. >Duration: Hutus seized power and organized murder of 750,000 people in >April 1994. >U.S. involvement: The U.S. led an international relief force to help feed >refugees. Serious policy disputes with France hampered reaction to 1994 >killings. U.S. has praised Tutsi Vice President Paul Kagame. U.N. war >crimes tribunal, however, has been highly inefficient and its future is >threatened over a dispute with Rwanda over the rights of the accused. > >Ethiopia-Eritrea >Conflict: Border war over 1908 frontiers drawn by then colonial power, >Italy. >Duration: Since May 1998. >U.S. involvement: A major blow to U.S. policy since both states are led by >democratically elected U.S. allies. U.S. has been attempting to mediate >with little success. Eritrea, formerly party of Ethiopia, won its >independence with some U.S. support in 1993. > >Angola >Conflict: civil war between leftist government and right-wing guerrilla >movement with U.N. peacekeepers in the middle. >Duration: Roots in the Cold War, but recent resurgence of fighting began in >1998 and U.N. peace accords all but collapsed in Jan. 1999. >U.S. involvement: During 1970s and 1980s, Angola received Soviet financial >support and Cuban military advisors. UNITA rebels were backed by the CIA >and South Africa. UNITA now backed locally by African regimes while Cuban >advisors may be returning to government's aid. > >Lesotho >Conflict: Intervention by South Africa and Botswana on behalf of Lesotho >government in face of election violence. >Duration: Sept. 1998 >U.S. involvement: Limited to diplomatic support for South Africa's >peacekeepers. > >Somalia >Conflict: Multi-factional civil war and a separatist movement in Somaliland >Duration: Since Jan. 1991 overthrow of military strongman Said Barre. >U.S. involvement: Somalia was an U.S. client state during the Cold War, >offsetting the Soviet ally Ethiopia next door. In 1991, when famine >threatened in the wake of Barre's ouster, the U.S. led an international >intervention that quickly went wrong, deteriorating into a manhunt for >warlords who baited and manipulated the international presence to their >advantage. > >Guinea-Bissau >Conflict: Army mutiny against President Joao Benardo 'Nino' Vieira, backed >by West African peacekeeping troops. >Duration: Since May 1998. >U.S. involvement: Limited. Portugal, the former colonial power, and France, >still deeply involved in West Africa, have helped the ECOMOG peacekeepers >with logistics and supplies. > >Zimbabwe >Conflict: Twenty years after former Rhodesia won independence from Britain, >white farmers own 70 percent of the best arable land in agriculturally rich >Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe is seeking to turn the land issue into an >election platform to boost his ruling party’s sagging popularity. >Duration: Since 1980. >U.S. involvement: The U.S. and Britain have promised financial aid for >Zimbabwe’s land reform, but have withheld funds after property earmarked >for redistribution to black Zimbabweans ended up in the hands of government >ministers and Mugabe cronies. > >Printable version > > > > The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------