Gunmen attack residences of DR Congo ministers

www.chinaview.cn 2009-09-02 16:38:43

Kinshasa, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Unidentified gunmen attacked the residences of two government ministers at the weekend in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), the local Okapi radio reported on Tuesday. Tambwe Mwamba, the minister of foreign affairs, and Jose Endundo, the minister of environment, natural conservation and tourism, were reportedly the targets of the assailants on Saturday night. At the residence of Tambwe, situated on 18th Avenue of Hesbaye in the district of Joli Parc at the Ngaliema joint in Kinshasa, the gunmen fired two bullets and the holes are still visible on the gate, the radio said. The situation is similar at the residence of Endundo at the Gombe joint, also in Kinshasa, not far from the Marsavco company. According to the police guarding the two residences, the attackers were in vehicles and they left envelopes at the entrance carrying only one message: "witness against Jean-Pierre Bemba....and you die." Police said they recovered the cartridges of 7 mm at Tambwe's residence, corresponding to the FA type of gun, while at Endundo's, cartridges of 9 mm were found, corresponding to the AKA type of gun. The Congolese minister for communication and media, Lambert Mende Omalanga, who is also the government spokesman, has admitted that other prominent politicians also received threatening messages, including former members of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), the party of Jean Pierre Bemba, like Antoine Ghonda and Valentine Senga. He announced that an inquiry had begun to hunt down the assailants. The MLC said it was seeing the mounting of organized crime by those who fear that Bemba may return to the political scene.

Editor: Deng Shasha