Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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March 23, 2007

Arrest Warrant Issued Against Ex-DRC Vice President
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=16C3F69:A6F02AD83191E160423F5A12F4A7AB439574F7DCC14957C0 News comes as
government troops battle with followers loyal to Jean-Pierre Bemba for
second straight day in Kinshasa





Jean-Pierre BembaAuthorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have
issued an arrest warrant for former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba
on charges of high treason.

The warrant was issued Friday as government troops battled with
followers loyal to Bemba for the second straight day in the capital,
Kinshasha . Large columns of smoke have been spotted in the city's
Gombe district, where Bemba's residence is located.

Bemba has taken refuge in the South African embassy in Kinshasha since
Thursday, when the fighting erupted. The battle broke out after a
tense two-day standoff, in which the government ordered the Bemba
loyalists to return to regular army service. The guards opposed the
order, saying a team of 12 policemen assigned to protect Bemba was not
sufficient.







Regular Congolese army soldiers hold a position on a street corner in
Kinshasa, 22 Mar 2007U.N. peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of
Congo evacuated over 450 people Friday from an area of the capital
caught in the crossfire of the battle. The U.N. Security Council has
expressed serious concern over the violence, saying they are
particularly worried that it has spilled over into the civilian
population.

The fighting was the first clash in the capital since landmark
elections last year.

Bemba lost Congo's presidential election last year to the incumbent,
Joseph Kabila. Bemba was a rebel leader during the DRC's civil war,
which killed some four million people, mostly through disease and
hunger.

There has been no indication that U.N. peacekeepers deployed to the
area this week were involved in the fighting.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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