- Mar 25, 2017
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Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said Sunday they had arrested several foreigners who were allegedly involved in a thwarted coup attempt after a shootout in the capital left three people dead.
Congolese army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Sylvain Ekenge told state television in a brief statement that the coup attempt had been swiftly stopped by Congolese security forces.
The U.S. ambassador tweeted that she had received reports that U.S. citizens were involved, and local media published footage of two men under arrest, their hands clasped pleadingly, with pictures of a passport that indicated one was a 36-year-old U.S. citizen born in Maryland. Media reports indicated that three other Americans were also arrested. The reports could not be independently confirmed.
The coup attempt appears to have been led by Christian Malanga, a 41-year-old man who set up a political organization among the Congolese diaspora in the United States and proclaimed himself president of Congo in exile. Congolese intelligence suspected him of previously trying to assassinate President Joseph Kabila, said Dino Mahtani, who has held senior positions for the United Nations in Congo; Kabila was president from 2001 to 2019.
Mahtani said Congolese intelligence had previously told him that Malanga was a former U.S. military officer of Congolese origin; Malanga himself posted online that he had been an Air Force junior ROTC cadet and had led a Congolese military unit.
Congolese army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Sylvain Ekenge told state television in a brief statement that the coup attempt had been swiftly stopped by Congolese security forces.
The U.S. ambassador tweeted that she had received reports that U.S. citizens were involved, and local media published footage of two men under arrest, their hands clasped pleadingly, with pictures of a passport that indicated one was a 36-year-old U.S. citizen born in Maryland. Media reports indicated that three other Americans were also arrested. The reports could not be independently confirmed.
The coup attempt appears to have been led by Christian Malanga, a 41-year-old man who set up a political organization among the Congolese diaspora in the United States and proclaimed himself president of Congo in exile. Congolese intelligence suspected him of previously trying to assassinate President Joseph Kabila, said Dino Mahtani, who has held senior positions for the United Nations in Congo; Kabila was president from 2001 to 2019.
Mahtani said Congolese intelligence had previously told him that Malanga was a former U.S. military officer of Congolese origin; Malanga himself posted online that he had been an Air Force junior ROTC cadet and had led a Congolese military unit.
