Congolese officials temporarily placed President Laurent Kabila's son in charge of the government yesterday, a day after numerous foreign officials said the ruler of this troubled nation was shot and killed during a coup attempt.
Communications Minister Dominique Sakombi Inongo, who made the announcement on state-run television after an emergency Cabinet meeting, insisted Kabila was injured but alive.
The news came as Congolese officials appeared to be struggling to fill a power vacuum in the already unstable and war-ravaged Central African country. As dawn broke over the capital yesterday, tanks and soldier-filled trucks patrolled quiet and empty streets as helicopters cruised overhead.
The younger Kabila, Joseph, is already head of the armed forces and was reported to have been injured in the shooting.
State-run television broadcast footage of the uniformed major general sitting alone silently, though it was not immediately clear when the images were recorded.
Presidential spokesman Lambert Kaboye earlier said in a telephone interview that Kabila was evacuated overnight to an undisclosed country, where he was receiving intensive treatment. He declined to elaborate.
A lobbyist and public relations consultant who acts as Kabila's spokesman in the US, however, said the president had been fatally shot.
"He's died," John Aycoth said Tuesday by telephone from Durham, North Carolina, citing top-level Congolese officials.
Officials from Angola, Congo's close ally, also said Kabila had been killed.
In Zimbabwe, another ally, top-ranking government officials told the state-run news agency yesterday that Kabila died on route to the capital, Harare, where he had been evacuated for his safety. The government was waiting for instructions on what to do with the body, according to the unidentified officials.
A member of Kabila's security entourage said late Tuesday on condition of anonymity that a bodyguard had shot the president in the back and right leg during 30 minutes of intense gunfire at the president's Kinshasa residence.
French and Belgian foreign ministry officials quoted local sources as saying they believed Kabila died of his injuries following the gunfire.
Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Louis Michel said in a radio interview yesterday morning that he had received reports that Kabila was killed following a disagreement with some of his army generals.
"The latest information we have seems to suggest there were differences between the president and a certain number of generals that went badly," Michel said. "It's not sure if it was a general or a bodyguard who fired" on Kabila.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS