A Spanish doctor kidnapped by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo said on Sunday he had treated patients during the 10 days he spent in captivity earlier this month.
“I took care of several sick people including one of the seven wives of the the leader of the rebels, Ibrahim,” Mario Sarsa told Spanish public television TVE in his first interview since being freed by the Congolese army on April 13.
Sarsa, 56, was abducted while traveling by boat on the Congo River near the rainforest gateway city of Kinsangani by a rebel group known as the Allied Forces for the Liberation of Congo that is headed by Ibrahim Mangbama.
The tropical medicine specialist, who had previously worked in Equatorial Guinea, said he thought the rebels were going to kill him when they abducted him, but was otherwise treated well.
“They pretended as if they were going to shoot me. They blindfolded me and tied me to a poll. Of course I was very frightened, I though I was going to die,” said Sarsa, who had been in DR Congo on holiday.
The rebels subsequently attacked the town of Mbandaka. The armed forces regained control the next day, with the help of UN peacekeeping troops.
Catholic non-governmental organization Caritas said the fighting caused 12 civilian deaths, while the government reported 21 killed, including nine from the UN mission.
Despite the unrest, Sarsa said he intended to return to the country to complete his planned trip down the Congo River, which was interrupted by his abduction.
“It is a very beautiful river, it is an experience that I recommend to all travelers,” he told TVE at the Spanish embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
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