DRC’s Bemba: ‘I was victim of assassination attempt’

KINSASHA – A failed presidential candidate that Congo’s young government accuses of attempting an insurrection claimed on Monday that he was targeted in an assassination attempt, and this is what triggered a round of fighting that left more than 100 dead in the capital.

“Eleven o’clock in the morning the firing started. It was something well prepared,” Jean-Pierre Bemba told The Associated Press by telephone from the South African Embassy in Kinshasa, where he has taken refuge since fighting first broke out Thursday.Bemba said two battalions of government troops surrounded his house before the firing started.”I have no idea” of a solution to the impasse, Bemba said in a Monday evening telephone call, adding that he has had little contact with the outside world since fleeing to the embassy with his wife and five children.Thursday morning’s shootout between Bemba’s guards and government troops gave way to mortar fire that lasted through Friday night, when government forces regained control of the capital.During the fighting, mortar rounds set fire to buildings, landing as far as 4 kilometres away in Brazzaville, the capital of the neighbouring Republic of Congo.Aid groups said more than 100 people were killed by the time calm returned Saturday.The government of President Joseph Kabila has said government forces were responding to an attempt by Bemba’s guard to take over part of the capital.The government has issued an arrest warrant for Bemba and Kabila has condemned the violence as an attempted insurrection.”It’s political,” Bemba said.”Do you believe that someone who wants to organise an insurrection will keep his children and wife in town? It’s nonsense.When the fighting started I was with my wife in my house and my children were at school.”Congo is a sprawling Central African country that was wracked by civil war and dictatorship before an October vote installed Kabila as its first freely elected president in more than four decades.Bemba was runner-up in the vote.The latest violence came less than a week after Bemba’s personal armed guard refused to disband as promised in an agreement with the new government, saying Bemba’s safety was in danger.Bemba said he was scheduled to meet with the government to further discuss disbanding his force on the day the violence broke out.Bemba’s camp had said earlier that he could not disband his militia out of fears for his safety.On Monday, he said he continued to fear for his life.Bemba said he has about 350 fighters in the country, 200 of them in the capital.That is far fewer than the 1 200 overall estimate given by Defines Minister Chikez Diemu and the 1 500 estimate provided by Bemba’s spokesman in October.”Do you organise an insurrection with 200 men?” Bemba asked.Bemba, a former warlord who once commanded about 20 000 fighters, is now a senator in the newly formed government after losing the presidency to Kabila.He argued that the attack was an attempt to silence opposition figures.”By trying to kill me, he sends a signal to all opponents in Congo that he can kill anyone who is opposed to him,” said Bemba, who spoke in a calm voice.”If the international community doesn’t understand that this is a dictatorship system that he is putting in place now, we will all of us regret it,” Bemba added.At a news conference Monday, Kabila demanded that Bemba face justice in Congo’s courts.Bemba said his immunity as a senator should protect him from prosecution.Asked by reporters whether he would negotiate a peace with Bemba, Kabila said: “It’s not by negotiations that we will ensure security.”He asked that the law be applied to Bemba, directing all questions about Bemba to the country’s attorney general.”This action has created a situation of insecurity and instability …in the city of Kinshasa,” Kabila said.The Catholic charity Caritas said it had counted more than 100 bodies at hospitals, clinics and morgues as of Saturday night.At least 60 people were killed and 74 injured in the fighting according to a provisional toll provided by the Communications Minister Toussaint Tshilombo Send in a broadcast on UN-backed radio.Tshilombo said a final tally would be released after an inquiry.About 200 fighters loyal to Bemba have turned themselves in as demanded by Congo’s government, said Jean-Willy Mutombo, a spokesman for the army Chief of Staff.The UN had previously reported 109 turning themselves in, with 44 more apprehended as they tried to cross the Congo River into neighbouring Republic of Congo, said police spokesman Colonel Jean Aive Allakooua.Bemba’s forces also were involved in violent clashes that left at least a dozen dead right after the elections when he initially refused to accept defeat.He went on to be elected as a senator and initially agreed to disband his militia, only to repeatedly miss deadlines to do so.Nampa-APIt was something well prepared,” Jean-Pierre Bemba told The Associated Press by telephone from the South African Embassy in Kinshasa, where he has taken refuge since fighting first broke out Thursday.Bemba said two battalions of government troops surrounded his house before the firing started.”I have no idea” of a solution to the impasse, Bemba said in a Monday evening telephone call, adding that he has had little contact with the outside world since fleeing to the embassy with his wife and five children.Thursday morning’s shootout between Bemba’s guards and government troops gave way to mortar fire that lasted through Friday night, when government forces regained control of the capital.During the fighting, mortar rounds set fire to buildings, landing as far as 4 kilometres away in Brazzaville, the capital of the neighbouring Republic of Congo.Aid groups said more than 100 people were killed by the time calm returned Saturday.The government of President Joseph Kabila has said government forces were responding to an attempt by Bemba’s guard to take over part of the capital.The government has issued an arrest warrant for Bemba and Kabila has condemned the violence as an attempted insurrection.”It’s political,” Bemba said.”Do you believe that someone who wants to organise an insurrection will keep his children and wife in town? It’s nonsense.When the fighting started I was with my wife in my house and my children were at school.”Congo is a sprawling Central African country that was wracked by civil war and dictatorship before an October vote installed Kabila as its first freely elected president in more than four decades.Bemba was runner-up in the vote.The latest violence came less than a week after Bemba’s personal armed guard refused to disband as promised in an agreement with the new government, saying Bemba’s safety was in danger.Bemba said he was scheduled to meet with the government to further discuss disbanding his force on the day the violence broke out.Bemba’s camp had said earlier that he could not disband his militia out of fears for his safety.On Monday, he said he continued to fear for his life.Bemba said he has about 350 fighters in the country, 200 of them in the capital.That is far fewer than the 1 200 overall estimate given by Defines Minister Chikez Diemu and the 1 500 estimate provided by Bemba’s spokesman in October.”Do you organise an insurrection with 200 men?” Bemba asked.Bemba, a former warlord who once commanded about 20 000 fighters, is now a senator in the newly formed government after losing the presidency to Kabila.He argued that the attack was an attempt to silence opposition figures.”By trying to kill me, he sends a signal to all opponents in Congo that he can kill anyone who is opposed to him,” said Bemba, who spoke in a calm voice.”If the international community doesn’t understand that this is a dictatorship system that he is putting in place now, we will all of us regret it,” Bemba added.At a news conference Monday, Kabila demanded that Bemba face justice in Congo’s courts.Bemba said his immunity as a senator should protect him from prosecution.Asked by reporters whether he would negotiate a peace with Bemba, Kabila said: “It’s not by negotiations that we will ensure security.”He asked that the law be applie
d to Bemba, directing all questions about Bemba to the country’s attorney general.”This action has created a situation of insecurity and instability …in the city of Kinshasa,” Kabila said.The Catholic charity Caritas said it had counted more than 100 bodies at hospitals, clinics and morgues as of Saturday night.At least 60 people were killed and 74 injured in the fighting according to a provisional toll provided by the Communications Minister Toussaint Tshilombo Send in a broadcast on UN-backed radio.Tshilombo said a final tally would be released after an inquiry.About 200 fighters loyal to Bemba have turned themselves in as demanded by Congo’s government, said Jean-Willy Mutombo, a spokesman for the army Chief of Staff.The UN had previously reported 109 turning themselves in, with 44 more apprehended as they tried to cross the Congo River into neighbouring Republic of Congo, said police spokesman Colonel Jean Aive Allakooua.Bemba’s forces also were involved in violent clashes that left at least a dozen dead right after the elections when he initially refused to accept defeat.He went on to be elected as a senator and initially agreed to disband his militia, only to repeatedly miss deadlines to do so.Nampa-AP