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/ 23 April 2007

DRC president committed to working with UN

President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday said he was committed to working with the United Nations, which has deployed 17 600 peacekeepers in the Central African nation. ”The president has said that it’s important to continue working together with the United Nations,” UN Deputy Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro said.

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/ 11 April 2007

Bemba flies for treatment in Portugal

Opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba left the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Wednesday, ending three weeks holed up in South Africa’s embassy after his forces were routed in two days of fighting that killed 600 last month. A Reuters witness said Bemba boarded a private jet bound for Portugal, where he is due to have medical treatment.

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/ 6 April 2007

UN says 149 of Bemba’s men disarmed

A total of 149 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) soldiers loyal to an ex-rebel leader have been disarmed after turning themselves in to a United Nations base. The soldiers, formerly loyal to ex-warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba, began turning themselves in last month, after a two-day clash left at least 150 dead.

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/ 27 March 2007

EU envoy: Up to 500 dead in DRC violence

Clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) capital last week left between 200 and 500 dead, the German ambassador said on Tuesday as European Union envoys expressed concern at the force used by government troops against political opponents. The figure came from hospital sources, aid groups and diplomats, German envoy Karl-Albrecht Wokalek said.

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/ 25 March 2007

DRC clashes leave over 100 dead

More than 100 people were killed in two days of heavy fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) capital Kinshasa, hospital officials said on Sunday, as diplomats expressed fears for the country’s fledgling democracy. Government forces restored order to Kinshasa late on Friday after routing fighters loyal to defeated presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba.

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/ 24 March 2007

Army restores order to DRC capital, Bemba wanted

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army restored order to the capital Kinshasa on Friday after two days of heavy fighting with troops loyal to former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, who the government accused of treason. Sporadic shooting continued after dark in the downtown area around United Nations headquarters, where about 900 civilians were earlier evacuated.

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/ 22 March 2007

Militia clash with troops in DRC capital

Gunfire and explosions rocked the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kinshasa, on Thursday as armed followers of a former rebel leader clashed with government troops, witnesses said. The shooting broke out after the personal militia of defeated presidential contender Jean-Pierre Bemba defied a government order last week to disband.

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/ 17 March 2007

Guard of DRC rebel leaders not standing down

The personal armies of two former Congolese rebel leaders have refused to disband as promised, ignoring this week’s deadline. The personal guard of Jean-Pierre Bemba as well as that of Azarias Ruberwa have continued their armed patrols, refusing to turn over the security of the ex-rebels to the country’s police force.

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/ 10 February 2007

DRC diamond miner’s million-dollar find

A miner found a 143-carat diamond in a river in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and sold it for ,4-million, an industry official said on Friday. Amos Maseko discovered the stone in a river near Banalia, 129km north of Kisangani, where usually only diamonds of between one and three carats are to be found.

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/ 7 February 2007

UN: More than 130 killed in DRC unrest

Violence last week in the Bas Congo province in western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) left 134 people dead, the United Nations said on Wednesday. ”We estimate at 134 the number of lives lost in these clashes,” Didier Rancher, a military spokesperson for the UN said of clashes between security services and members of the Bunda dia Kongo religious movement.

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/ 3 February 2007

Bloody week in the DRC

Nearly 100 people died and 30 others were wounded this week in clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that erupted when demonstrators protesting alleged electoral fraud rampaged through several towns and security forces tried to restore order, rights groups and humanitarian organisations said.

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/ 2 February 2007

DRC crackdown leaves scores dead

A bloody crackdown by security forces on members of a religious sect in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed at least 90 lives, medical and diplomatic sources said on Friday. A member of Monuc, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said the ”repression had been ”bloody”.

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/ 15 December 2006

SA troops adapt to peacekeeping

It is not a well-known fact that just before the second round of elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations moved hundreds of peacekeepers from positions all over the country into the capital, Kinshasa. These soldiers were to become the stick of the UN’s carrot-and-stick plan, and were issued with armoured vehicles and heavy machine guns.

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/ 14 December 2006

Witchcraft accused burned alive in DRC

A young woman accused of witchcraft was burned alive in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Wednesday, while in another town two men were burned for suspected rape, a radio station reported. The woman was stoned and then burned in Bugara, a neighbourhood in the eastern town of Rutshuru, the report said.

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/ 13 December 2006

SA set to continue assistance to DRC

South Africa will help the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to find a diplomatic solution to the ongoing fighting in the country, South African Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Wednesday. He was speaking only a day after the forces of warlord Laurent Nkunda apparently attacked and killed three men who wanted to return to the regular army.

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/ 12 December 2006

DRC flood victims ‘living in canoes’

Thousands of people have been displaced by about a week of heavy flooding in the north-western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), United Nations and government officials said on Monday. Many houses were washed away, while some in low-lying areas were completely inundated, a local official said.

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/ 6 December 2006

Kabila inaugurated as DRC president

Joseph Kabila was sworn in on Wednesday as the first democratically elected president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at a colourful ceremony attended by thousands of guests and seen by many as a possible turning point for the war-ravaged nation. Kabila raised his right hand before Supreme Court judges and pledged to ”uphold and defend the Constitution”.

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/ 4 December 2006

Watershed moment for DRC

The swearing in on Wednesday of Joseph Kabila as the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) first freely elected leader may be a turning point not only for this war-ravaged nation of 60-million but for all of Central Africa. If the 35-year-old president-elect has the will and the skill to fulfil his campaign pledge it could help bring peace to a devastated region.

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/ 29 November 2006

Relief, fears meet DRC loser’s pledge

A pledge by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) defeated presidential candidate to enter the opposition peacefully came as a relief to many on Wednesday, but concerns lingered that President Joseph Kabila may deny his party a meaningful role. Fears of a violent backlash were allayed on Tuesday.

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/ 29 November 2006

Government troops regain control of DRC town

Government troops have regained control of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Sake, although clashes with rebel forces continued around the municipality for the fourth straight day, a United Nations official said on Tuesday. The integrated brigade has retaken control of Sake” and three surrounding hills, said UN mission spokesperson Ajay Dalal.