Foreign Correspondence

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Coup Attempted in Congo


President Mugabe’s Zimbabwe government is heavily involved in the DRC, the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire since war broke out.
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This coup almost immediately follows that attempted in Equatorial Guinea.

Updated 7:19 AM ET March 28, 2004


KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - Government forces battled attackers at military installations and a TV station in Congo's capital in what diplomats called a coup attempt against President Joseph Kabila.

Fighters loyal to the late Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko were among those behind the attempt, British Ambassador Jim Atkinson said.

The coup attempt began before dawn and lasted through four hours of gunfire. Shooting eased by late morning, with the coup attempt apparently contained by loyalist troops.

Government spokesman Vital Kamerhe said the gunmen attacked simultaneously at several military posts and a private television station, killing one loyalist soldier and injuring two others.

"We have the situation under control," Kamerhe told The Associated Press. "There have been arrests in the assailants' ranks and we've taken some arms and ammunitions."

Diplomats believed the attempt was the work of soldiers loyal to Mobutu, Congo's Cold War ruler.

Thousands of Mobutu's soldiers fled across the Congo River to Brazzaville, capital of neighboring Republic of Congo, after Mobutu was ousted in 1997.

"They've infiltrated into Kinshasa with weapons, presumably over the past days and weeks," Atkinson, the British diplomat said. "This morning they began attacking at various places."

A standoff appeared to be continuing in part of the city between the attackers and loyalists, Atkinson said.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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