>FYI
>
>AMADOU SCATTRED JANNEH
>
>
>
>
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>Congo’s Kabila shot
>in apparent coup bid
>
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>Conflicting reports over whether Central African president is dead
>
>
>MSNBC NEWS SERVICES
>
>
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>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
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>
>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
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>
>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.
>
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