:
Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)
April 11, 2007: Its
estimated that 500,000 "illegal weapons"
are circulating in the Congo. Most of these are AK-47s, and other Russian designed
(and often Chinese manufactured) rifles and pistols. The end of the Cold War
threw millions of surplus weapons on the arms market. The old Communist
governments of Europe followed the lead of the Soviet Union, and never threw
away old weapons. They were locked up in armories, on the off chance that
someone would invade, and it would be necessary to "arm the people."
When the Communist governments of Europe collapsed in the late 1980s, the
treasuries were found to be empty, but the armories were full. As much as
possible, unneeded weapons were sold off. Unscrupulous arms dealers bought up
most of them, and sold them to warlords in Africa, mostly Africa. Congo was one
of the best markets, with all those valuable natural resources to trade for the
weapons. For thousands of years, the hundreds of tribes in the Congo had fought
each other with spears, knives and bows. Casualties were relatively low. But
passing out AK-47s made every man, or boy, a killing machine. The traditional
weapons required some muscle, and years of practice, to master. It took minutes
to turn a ten year old kid into an AK-47 gunman. It's teenagers with automatic
weapons that are still the biggest public health, and public order, problem in
the country.
April 7, 2007: The commander of FNI militia, Peter Karim, has
surrendered in a negotiated deal. Karim has been given the rank of colonel in
the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC, ie, Congolese Army). Karim is lucky. The FNI
(Front of Nationalists and Integrationists) were involved in the kidnapping of
eight Nepalese peacekeepers in May 2006. One Nepalese soldier died in the
incident. The FNI also took ten Congolese troops hostage in December 2006. The
Congolese troops have since been released. The UN report said that 170 FNI
militiamen surrendered in late February. Another 170 surrendered in March.
Karim brought several of his lieutenants with him when he surrendered. The UN
estimates that another 350 armed FNI militiamen still remain active in the
Congo's Ituri province. Several of the former militiamen were already in
Congolese retraining and integration centers. The Congolese refer to these as
"brassage centers."
April 6, 2007: Trouble
continues between the government and opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba. Congolese police searched the Kinshasha home
of a key Bemba supporter Jose Makila,
governor of Equateur province, and confiscated
"state property." During this
operation, the police stole money and
took three vehicles. If it looks like harassment, it probably is.
