A REBEL leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday said more than 100_000 refugees from the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) were in urgent need of help. “More than 100_000 Central Africans” have crossed the Oubangui river into areas in northeast DRC controlled by the Congolese Liberation Front (FLC), said the rebel group’s leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba. FLC rebels backed regular troops in CAR to help quell an attempted coup in late May. The United Nations refugee agency, which is sending a mission to Equateur province, said in Geneva last week that between 14_000 and 17_000 people in the Central African Republic capital Bangui, which lies on the border, had fled southward to the DRC. – AFP