Kabila appeals for calm following coup attempt

KINSHASA – President Joseph Kabila appealed for calm after armed groups attacked military installations across the capital in an apparent attempt to force him from power, promising that security forces would protect Congo’s people.

Congo’s capital awoke to calm yesterday, after hours of battles with guns and mortars on Sunday between loyalist troops and the attackers. Diplomats called it a coup attempt against Kabila’s year-old power-sharing government, blaming fighters loyal to late Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.It was the most serious attack on Kabila’s government since the end of Congo’s five-year war, which split the Western Europe-size nation into rebel and government territory and brought the deaths of up to 3 million people.Kabila appeared on state television late on Sunday to say order had been restored after the day’s fighting.Looking relaxed, the Congo leader was flanked by his four vice presidents in the power-sharing government, which is still struggling to assert control over the formerly rebel-held north and east.”They were terrorists and uncivil individuals who wanted to take over military installations,” Kabila said, without specifying exactly who the attackers were following.”I’m happy they were routed,” he added.Kabila said the armed forces had received “precise instructions” to protect the population.Top officials were meeting in emergency session yesterday, the government said.Kabila’s administration has refused to characterise Sunday’s deadly clashes as an attempted putsch.Fighters loyal to Mobutu, Congo’s Cold War dictator, were among those who launched Sunday’s uprising, British Ambassador Jim Atkinson told The Associated Press, in an account backed by loyalist Congolese army officers and others.Mobutu was overthrown in 1997 by then-ruler Laurent Kabila, Joseph Kabila’s father.Mobutu died in exile shortly after his overthrow.As Laurent Kabila’s insurgents entered Kinshasa in 1997, thousands of Mobutu loyalists scattered, and many now live in surrounding countries, including neighbouring Republic of Congo.Sunday’s attacks came before dawn and lasted through four hours of gunfire that kept most Kinshasa inhabitants indoors.Hundreds of Congolese took to the streets to cheer government troops when the shooting eased in early afternoon as the government apparently overcame the attacks.Congolese officials said the simultaneous attacks targeted an army camp near Kabila’s offices, a military airport, a naval shipyard on the Congo river and the national radio and television headquarters.Congolese forces apprehended 12 assailants, officials said, adding that untold numbers of the civilian-clothed attackers disappeared into the city with their weapons.One soldier died in the fighting two others were wounded.- Nampa-APDiplomats called it a coup attempt against Kabila’s year-old power-sharing government, blaming fighters loyal to late Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.It was the most serious attack on Kabila’s government since the end of Congo’s five-year war, which split the Western Europe-size nation into rebel and government territory and brought the deaths of up to 3 million people.Kabila appeared on state television late on Sunday to say order had been restored after the day’s fighting.Looking relaxed, the Congo leader was flanked by his four vice presidents in the power-sharing government, which is still struggling to assert control over the formerly rebel-held north and east.”They were terrorists and uncivil individuals who wanted to take over military installations,” Kabila said, without specifying exactly who the attackers were following.”I’m happy they were routed,” he added.Kabila said the armed forces had received “precise instructions” to protect the population.Top officials were meeting in emergency session yesterday, the government said.Kabila’s administration has refused to characterise Sunday’s deadly clashes as an attempted putsch.Fighters loyal to Mobutu, Congo’s Cold War dictator, were among those who launched Sunday’s uprising, British Ambassador Jim Atkinson told The Associated Press, in an account backed by loyalist Congolese army officers and others.Mobutu was overthrown in 1997 by then-ruler Laurent Kabila, Joseph Kabila’s father.Mobutu died in exile shortly after his overthrow.As Laurent Kabila’s insurgents entered Kinshasa in 1997, thousands of Mobutu loyalists scattered, and many now live in surrounding countries, including neighbouring Republic of Congo.Sunday’s attacks came before dawn and lasted through four hours of gunfire that kept most Kinshasa inhabitants indoors.Hundreds of Congolese took to the streets to cheer government troops when the shooting eased in early afternoon as the government apparently overcame the attacks.Congolese officials said the simultaneous attacks targeted an army camp near Kabila’s offices, a military airport, a naval shipyard on the Congo river and the national radio and television headquarters.Congolese forces apprehended 12 assailants, officials said, adding that untold numbers of the civilian-clothed attackers disappeared into the city with their weapons.One soldier died in the fighting two others were wounded.- Nampa-AP