The president of Democratic Congo was shot dead in a coup attempt yesterday, reports from the region said.
Stories varied about the death of Laurent Kabila, a former Marxist guerrilla who ruled by decree after he grabbed power in 1997.
Some reports said he was killed during a meeting with some of his generals, while others said he was shot by one of his bodyguards.
Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koen Vervaeke said that “two sources, of whom we are 100 percent certain,” said Kabila was dead.
“He has probably been shot by one of his guards,” Vervaeke told The Associated Press.
Congo’s U.S. spokesman told the AP he had confirmed Kabila’s death with sources in Kinshasa, the nation’s capital.
There was no official announcement – but soon after the shooting, Kabila aides went on TV to ask for calm and announce a curfew and the closing of borders and airports.
Kabila seized power in the nation formerly known as Zaire in 1997 by ousting longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
Neighboring Rwanda and Uganda supported Kabila then – but backed the rebellion against him that began in 1998. Rebels control most of the country’s north and east.
Democratic Congo, a nation the size of Western Europe, has a wealth of natural resources – but fewer than 200 miles of paved roads. International groups say its poverty hasn’t been helped by Kabila’s continuation of Mobutu’s corrupt politics.