DR Congo 'coup attempt put down'

[muriel_volestrangler]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3796713.stm

President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo has appeared on national television, saying that a coup attempt has been thwarted.
There was heavy gunfire in the capital, Kinshasa, after rebel soldiers seized the national TV station overnight.
...
The alleged coup leader, Major Eric Lenge, is surrounded with some of his men near the main Ndjili airport, said Mr Kabila's spokesman Kudura Kasongo.
...
At 0230 local time (0130 GMT), some renegade soldiers from the presidential guard took over state television and announced that the army was in control.

But the BBC's Arnaud Zajtman in DR Congo says that television is normally off air at that time and so the announcement went largely unheard.


What if someone held a coup and no-one heard about it?

[David__77]

1. I had high hopes for Laurent Kabila in 1997.

When the rebels seized Zaire and re-established the DRC, I had really hoped that things would move forward on the basis of renewed political mobilization of the whole people. Instead, probably mostly due to British-backed subversion through its proxies in Uganda and elsewhere, there has been continued crises. It's horrible.

[AP]

3. The CIA murdering Patrice Llumumba probably guaranteed a century of

tyranny and instability.

If you haven't seen Raoul Peck's documentary about Llumumba, you should:

Lumumba: La mort du prophète (1992)

http://64.4.10.250:80/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=bbd3b7d85d1abe4fdee8be6a9b351526&lat=1086968576&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eimdb%2ecom%2fconfirm%2f07792466262735222784

[dArKeR]

2. Renegade leader flees Kinshasa after coup

Kinshasa - The ringleader of an apparent coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo has fled the capital Kinshasa and is being chased south by security forces, President Joseph Kabila's spokesperson said on Friday.

"Major Eric Lenge fled town about an hour ago and he is heading towards the province of Bas Congo. He has 21 well-armed men with him. The army, supported by a helicopter, is chasing him," spokesperson Kudura Kasongo said.

http://iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=qw1086963662942B252&set_id=1

So you only need 21 men to control a country! Bush did it in the Coup of 2000 with only 5 Whores.