DR Congo govt foils coup against president

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) interior minister said on Friday that the government had forestalled a coup against the president after the arrest of two people. Interior Minister Richard Muyej Mangez said the two were Kanku Mukandi, a Belgian national who was the founder of a group calling itself “Stand up for the Congolese Movement” (MDC) and Isidore Madimba Mongombe who was an ex-officer of the countrie’s police force. He revealed that Mukandi who is a doctor living at Hoeilaart in Belgium, had made several visits to DR Congo with the goal of overthrowing the gov’t by use of force. According to the interior minister, Mukandi did not deny the accusations that had been brought against him during questioning. “He acknowledged having held several meetings in Kinshasa with his military and civilian accomplices, by telling each one of them the role they would play before executing a plan to attack the town of Kinshasa. The minister displayed five automatic weapons, a rocket launcher and several rounds of ammunition that were seized in a Kinshasa hotel. “The two suspects will be charged in court for espionage, plotting to harm the president, participating in an insurrectionary movement and possessing weapons,” he said. On Feb. 27, 2011, Kabila’s residence in Kinshasa and the Kokolo military camp were attacked by assailants, but the security services managed to arrest about 100 of them. Xinhua