Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis on Sunday urged leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo to act quickly to resolve its political crisis and curb violence, condemning in particular the use of child soldiers. Violence has flared across the country in recent months, including deadly confrontations …
Read More »UPDF say leader of Congolese militia M23 missing
Kampala, Uganda | AFP | The leader of a Congolese rebel group who had been living under security in Uganda has gone missing, after scores of his fighters escaped their military base, the army said Friday. The leader of M23, a mostly ethnic Tutsi rebel group which fled Democratic Republic …
Read More »DR Congo at crossroads as opposition chief Tshisekedi dies
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Longtime DR Congo opposition chief Etienne Tshisekedi died Wednesday at the age of 84 in Brussels, as talks aiming to end the nation’s political crisis were under way in Kinshasa. “President Tshisekedi died today… in Brussels,” Bruno Tshibala, an official from his Union for …
Read More »Uganda admits scores of Congolese M23 rebels escaped base
Kampala, Uganda | AFP | Uganda’s government said Thursday that 40 Congolese rebels quartered at a Ugandan military base since 2014 have disappeared, while more than 100 were caught trying to cross into the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congolese government said Sunday that at least 200 former members of …
Read More »UN ‘ready to engage’ if Congo rebels invade
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The UN said Wednesday it had no confirmation of an incursion into Democratic Republic of Congo by scores of rebels sheltering in Uganda, but that it was “ready to engage” if it were the case. The DRC government said Sunday that at least 230 …
Read More »DRC opposition figure Lumbala arrives in Kinshasa
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A DR Congo opposition leader accused of “high treason” returned to Kinshasa on Sunday two weeks after a key deal to end a political crisis in the vast African country. Roger Lumbala, head of the small opposition Rally of Congolese Democrats and Nationalists (RCD-N), …
Read More »DRC claims M23 rebels cross from Uganda, ‘clash with army’
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) officials have said that armed Congolese rebels crossed back overnight into the country from their longtime refuge in Uganda, prompting fears that a guerilla conflict put to rest in 2013 could be rekindled. At least 200 former members of …
Read More »DRC CRISIS: Kabila gives bishops green light
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo President Joseph Kabila gave the green light Wednesday for the Catholic Church to pursue mediation to end the crisis sparked by his refusal to step down, sources said. The country’s influential bishops brokered a New Year’s Eve deal to sketch a timetable …
Read More »Kabila ‘agrees to hand over this year’
Optimism in DR Congo as deal reached to end political crisis Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The new year in one of Africa’s most troubled countries began in a burst of optimism Sunday after rival groups agreed a deal for hauling DR Congo out of a perilous political crisis. …
Read More »DR Congo: Five facts
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The second largest country in Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo is blessed with oil, timber, diamonds and gold but cursed with violence, instability, graft and poverty. Here are five facts about DR Congo following the outcome of talks to defuse its latest crisis: – …
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