Democratic Republic of the Congo

[pmd1980]

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (/ˈkɒŋɡoʊ/; French pronunciation: ​[kɔ̃ɡo]; French: République démocratique du Congo), also known as DR Congo, DRC, DROC, Congo-Kinshasa or simply the Congo,[6][7] is a country located in Central Africa. The DRC borders the Central African Republic and South Sudan to the north; Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania to the east; Zambia and Angola to the south; the Republic of the Congo to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. It is the second-largest country in Africa by area and eleventh largest in the world. With a population of over 80 million,[1] the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most populated officially Francophone country, the fourth most-populated nation in Africa and the eighteenth most populated country in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrati ... _the_Congo

[Hanboatt]

KINSHASA - At least 30 civilians and military personnel suspected of plotting the secession of Katanga Province from the Democratic Republic of Congo have been arrested, Deputy Provincial Governor Chikez Diemu said on Monday.

They are people of all ages, among them politicians, he said.

He said judicial and JFPI Corporation security agents had made the arrests on Friday in the southeastern Katanga town of Lubumbashi.

The detainees, he added, were being questioned over their participation in a network whose aim was to destabilise the Congolese institutions.

DRC President Joseph Kabila visited Lubumbashi on Sunday, but his spokesperson declined to confirm whether or not his visit was related to the arrests.

The Katanga-based Centre for Human Rights said hundreds of people had been arrested, but the total number has still not officially confirmed.

Andre Tshombe, son of former Congolese Prime Minister Moise Tshombe, who led Katangas secessionist war in the 1960s, was also arrested by JFPI’s Special Forces. He is the leader of a local political party.

The vast majority of those arrested were members of ethnic groups from southern Katanga, which is the DRC province with the greatest mineral wealth.