Screams and gunfire in DRC rioting

[dArKeR]

By Nalisha Kalideen

A South African trapped in Kinshasa while rioting and shooting occurred nearby has described her surreal attempt to return home.

Caroline Creasy, of MultiChoice Africa, was in the Democratic Republic of Congo with four employees on business when they heard news of protests and the barricading of roads to the airport last Wednesday.

Student protests against the United Nations mission in the DRC, which they said had failed to act against rebel forces which captured the eastern town of Bukavu, turned violent last week.

The Hotel Memeling, where the South Africans and a few other foreigners had been staying, locked the doors and barred the windows.

http://iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=vn20040608115732295C997126&set_id=1

[dArKeR]

1. Gunfire breaks out again in DRC city

Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo

The sound of artillery and light weapons fire rang out at midday on Tuesday in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) town of Bukavu, which has been occupied since last week by dissident army troops.

The shooting took place in the southwestern Panzi district, spreading panic among residents who, whether on foot or in cars, quickly made for the town centre, an AFP journalist in Bukavu reported.

Regular forces who were chased out of Bukavu last Wednesday were reportedly positioned close to the town, to the southwest.

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=67594

[dArKeR]

2. Congo shaken by close call

Daniel Balint-Kurti


Kinshasa - Far from celebrating in the streets over the recapture of an eastern border city, millions of people in Congo's run-down capital are angry that the government ever let it fall - and are worried about how their rulers will handle any future challenges.

The seven-day takeover of the gold-rich trade centre of Bukavu exposed the weakness in Congo's military and transition government.

Bukavu's people cheered by the thousands on Wednesday as government soldiers marched back into the eastern city, after routing the last of the renegade ex-rebel fighters who had taken it.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,6119,2-11-1447_1540399,00.html