750 Congolese seek refuge in embassy

Some 750 citizens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have fled to their embassy in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), fearing possible retaliation by city residents angered by the looting and rape reportedly committed by a militia from the DRC that had come to support government forces put down a recent attack by renegade troops. "We offered them shelter and protection," one DRC diplomat told IRIN on Thursday. "We fear for our security in the neighbourhoods," Jean Pierre Dawili, of Gemena, northern DRC, said. Dawili, who has worked as a shoe shiner in Bangui for years, joined the other DRC citizens who began streaming into their embassy on 1 November, asking to be repatriated. They said Bangui residents had shown them hostility after the forces of the Mouvement de liberation du Congo, led by Jean-Pierre Bemba, came to the aid of CAR President Ange-Felix Patasse during the 25-31 October invasion by forces of the renegade CAR armed forces chief of staff, Gen Francois Bozize, now exiled in France. Bemba's troops were accused of looting and raping city residents. The rebels were expelled from Bangui and fled northwards along the road leading to Chad. Speaking on state-owned radio Centrafrique on Thursday, the minister of state for communication, Gabriel Jean Edouard Koyambounou, appealed to Bozize's men to hand in their arms and return to Bangui, where their "security and physical integrity" was guaranteed. Meanwhile, humanitarian NGOs such as Medicos Sin Fronteras-Espana (MSF-Spain), Cooperazione Internazionale (Coopi), and the World Food Programme (WFP) have started providing the city's needy with food and medical aid. Coopi's logistics officer, Edouardo Pelamatu, told IRIN on Thursday that his NGO had dug two latrines and was digging four more. It had also been clearing rubbish, erecting tents provided by the UN Children's Fund, and distributing cooked food, supplied by the WFP. In collaboration with MSF-Spain, Coopi has put in place a medical team comprising a doctor, two nurses and an obstetrician. "Today we received 50 patients, most of whom have superficial injuries or are suffering from trauma. Others have malaria, respiratory infections and dermatosis," Kibonge Victor, a doctor and head of Coopi's medical team, said on Thursday. Chadians, too, are facing the wrath of the population of Bangui, given the tense relations between their government and that of the CAR. Keen to avoid violence, the government of Prime Minister Martin Ziguele has called for public restraint. "I am warning anyone who might want to take advantage of the situation and attack foreigners," he said. "If they are here, it is because they love our country." Chad has accused the CAR army of having killed 150 Chadians in Bangui, a charge Ziguele has denied. He termed the allegation an attempt to divert the international community's attention away from what he said was Chad's role in Bozize's invasion. In a report issued on 6 November, the Ligue Centrafricaine des Droits de l'Homme (the CAR's human rights league) said the killing of Chadians had taken place, and called for an international commission to investigate this as well as all violations of human rights during the October crisis.