/ 18 May 1999

KABILA’s PILOT HELD IN HARARE

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila’s pilot was arrested at Harare International airport last Tuesday after being found in possession ammunition, but released later the same day. Sunday weekly The Standard reports that the pilot, an American citizen flying Kabila’s presidential plane, was briefly detained at Hatfield Police Station after he was found with several rounds of AK47 ammunition in his pockets. The pilot had flown to Harare while carrying DRC army officers for military consultations. He claimed to have picked the rounds on the tarmac of Lubumbashi airport and had dropped them in his pocket before his take-off for Zimbabwe, and that he had simply forgotten about them. A police spokesperson said: “We are satisfied with his explanation, and above all, the quantity of bullets he possessed does not warrant any arrest at all.”