KINSHASA – Congolese opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba will remain in self-imposed exile in Portugal and not return to Congo as planned because he fears for his safety, an adviser to the former rebel chief said on Saturday.
Bemba, elected a senator after losing landmark presidential elections in 2006, was granted a 60-day leave of absence by the Senate leadership in early April to seek medical treatment in Portugal after heavy fighting between his personal guard and government troops in Kinshasa in which hundreds of people died. Bemba left Democratic Republic of Congo on April 11 after nearly three weeks holed up in the South African embassy, saying troops loyal to President Joseph Kabila were trying to kill him.The deadline for his return was Saturday.”He is not coming back today,” Fidel Babala told Reuters, adding that necessary measures to ensure Bemba’s security had not been put in place.”You saw what happened in March.What is there to ensure that doesn’t happen again?” he said.Fighting erupted on March 22 after fighters loyal to Bemba, who headed the rebel Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) during a 1998-2003 war, defied an army order to report for demobilisation.Bemba’s refusal to return means he risks losing his Senate seat and the immunity that comes with it.Nampa-ReutersBemba left Democratic Republic of Congo on April 11 after nearly three weeks holed up in the South African embassy, saying troops loyal to President Joseph Kabila were trying to kill him.The deadline for his return was Saturday.”He is not coming back today,” Fidel Babala told Reuters, adding that necessary measures to ensure Bemba’s security had not been put in place.”You saw what happened in March.What is there to ensure that doesn’t happen again?” he said.Fighting erupted on March 22 after fighters loyal to Bemba, who headed the rebel Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) during a 1998-2003 war, defied an army order to report for demobilisation.Bemba’s refusal to return means he risks losing his Senate seat and the immunity that comes with it.Nampa-Reuters
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