Joseph Kabila survives coup
Jun 11, 2004
KINSHASA, Friday - A coup attempt by members of the Democratic Republic of Congo presidential guard was thwarted overnight and troops loyal to President Joseph Kabila were pursuing the would-be putschists Friday as they fled the capital, officials and witnesses told <i>AFP</i>.
KINSHASA, Friday - A coup attempt by members of the Democratic Republic of Congo presidential guard was thwarted overnight and troops loyal to President Joseph Kabila were pursuing the would-be putschists Friday as they fled the capital, officials and witnesses told AFP.
A small group of soldiers from the presidential guard led by Major Eric Lengue, who had announced overnight that they had seized power, were seen at 9:00am (0800 GMT) in four vehicles heading out of the capital, reliable sources said.
The security forces were hot on their heels and a military helicopter was flying over Kinshasa, they added.
The would-be putschists had stormed the national radio station at around
2:00 am to announce that the transitional government, led by Kabila, had failed and been suspended, the officials said.
Information minister Vital Kamerhe said the “commando,†as he called it, then headed to the national electricity company, SNEL, where they caused a power cut in Kinshasa that lasted some three hours, before electricity was restored at around 6:00am.
Officials said several hours later that the coup bid had been thwarted, and reassured that Kabila, who came to power after his father, Laurent, was assassinated in January 2001 by a member of his presidential guard, was safe and those behind the revolt were surrounded in a military camp.
Residents of the area reported hearing about six outbursts of heavy weapons fire coming from near the military camp shortly before 0600 GMT.
A few moments later automatic weapons fire was heard in Kinshasa’s Gombe neighbourhood, where Kabila’s residence and office are located.
But by mid-morning Friday, witnesses said the renegade soldiers were on the run.
Kamerhe said on private Kinshasa radio station Top that the takeover had failed, Kabila had been informed and order had been re-established.
Presidential spokesman Kudura Kasongo told AFP a few hours after the abortive putsch that the president “is fine†and under no threat.
“It was just someone trying to throw his weight around and who got inside the radio station,†Kasongo told AFP a few hours after the incident.
“The president is fine, I am in regular contact with him and there is no threat,†he said.
The power cut affected the entire capital and fueled rumours of trouble in the sprawling city, which two-and-a-half months ago saw another apparent coup bid, when assailants launched simultaneous attacks on four military bases.
Police said the March 28 coup bid was launched by soldiers from the Zairean Armed Forces (FAZ) of late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who had disembarked from boats coming from Brazzaville, the capital of the Congo Republic, which lies across the Congo River from Kinshasa.
The army operation to prevent the would-be coupmakers from fleeing Kinshasa was concentrated on the river’s Ngopila beach area, from where ferries cross to and from Brazzaville, sources said.
There was also a heavy military presence at Kinshasa airport, an AFP correspondent said.
Lengue was backed by about 20 supporters, sources said.
“It was a new attempt at destabilisation, which is never good for the country,†said a diplomat questioned by AFP.
The attempt came two days after the DRC army recaptured the eastern town of Bukavu, near the border with Rwanda, after it was held for a week by renegade soldiers whom Kabila accused Kigali of backing. The unrest in Bukavu, in which at least 90 people died, sparked fears both in DRC and abroad that the fragile peace that has been trying to take root in the vast country could be dying.
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A small group of soldiers from the presidential guard led by Major Eric Lengue, who had announced overnight that they had seized power, were seen at 9:00am (0800 GMT) in four vehicles heading out of the capital, reliable sources said.
The security forces were hot on their heels and a military helicopter was flying over Kinshasa, they added.
The would-be putschists had stormed the national radio station at around
2:00 am to announce that the transitional government, led by Kabila, had failed and been suspended, the officials said.
Information minister Vital Kamerhe said the “commando,†as he called it, then headed to the national electricity company, SNEL, where they caused a power cut in Kinshasa that lasted some three hours, before electricity was restored at around 6:00am.
Officials said several hours later that the coup bid had been thwarted, and reassured that Kabila, who came to power after his father, Laurent, was assassinated in January 2001 by a member of his presidential guard, was safe and those behind the revolt were surrounded in a military camp.
Residents of the area reported hearing about six outbursts of heavy weapons fire coming from near the military camp shortly before 0600 GMT.
A few moments later automatic weapons fire was heard in Kinshasa’s Gombe neighbourhood, where Kabila’s residence and office are located.
But by mid-morning Friday, witnesses said the renegade soldiers were on the run.
Kamerhe said on private Kinshasa radio station Top that the takeover had failed, Kabila had been informed and order had been re-established.
Presidential spokesman Kudura Kasongo told AFP a few hours after the abortive putsch that the president “is fine†and under no threat.
“It was just someone trying to throw his weight around and who got inside the radio station,†Kasongo told AFP a few hours after the incident.
“The president is fine, I am in regular contact with him and there is no threat,†he said.
The power cut affected the entire capital and fueled rumours of trouble in the sprawling city, which two-and-a-half months ago saw another apparent coup bid, when assailants launched simultaneous attacks on four military bases.
Police said the March 28 coup bid was launched by soldiers from the Zairean Armed Forces (FAZ) of late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who had disembarked from boats coming from Brazzaville, the capital of the Congo Republic, which lies across the Congo River from Kinshasa.
The army operation to prevent the would-be coupmakers from fleeing Kinshasa was concentrated on the river’s Ngopila beach area, from where ferries cross to and from Brazzaville, sources said.
There was also a heavy military presence at Kinshasa airport, an AFP correspondent said.
Lengue was backed by about 20 supporters, sources said.
“It was a new attempt at destabilisation, which is never good for the country,†said a diplomat questioned by AFP.
The attempt came two days after the DRC army recaptured the eastern town of Bukavu, near the border with Rwanda, after it was held for a week by renegade soldiers whom Kabila accused Kigali of backing. The unrest in Bukavu, in which at least 90 people died, sparked fears both in DRC and abroad that the fragile peace that has been trying to take root in the vast country could be dying.
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