DENNIS BARNETT, Bangui | Wednesday 3.30pm.
ALMOST 13000 people, including 6000 Democratic Republic of Congo government troops, have fled the northern Gbadolite region for neighbouring Central African Republic.
The exodus follows the capture of Gbadolite, the home town of late Zairean dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, by a DR Congo rebel movement.
“This presence is worrying,” presidential spokesperson Prosper N’Douba said on state radio, adding that the humanitarian situation was difficult.
A plane chartered by Libya carrying 14 tonnes of food is expected to deliver supplies to the refugees.
“Everything will be done in strict collaboration with the international community so that the refugees who want to can return to their country,” N’Douba said.
The president’s office “formally and categorically” denied rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba’s claim that a Sudanese plane flew a sortie from Bangui to drop a bomb on Gbadolite airport after rebels capture the town.
Nobody was hurt in the incident. “These allegations are without foundation,” N’Douba said.
At the weekend, the six states involved in the DRC conflict signed a ceasefire deal, but DRC rebels failed to do so because of a row over who had the right to sign the document.