Concern grows over 26 Zambians held in DRC

As concern grew over the plight of 26 Zambians abducted and taken across the country’s northern border by suspected rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a senior regional official told IRIN on Tuesday the government was seeking to negotiate their release. The 26 residents of the northern border town of Kaputa, some 1,200 km from the capital, Lusaka, were abducted in a pre-dawn raid on Saturday. The official, Emmanuel Chileshe, the district administrator of Kaputa, told IRIN in a telephone interview that they were all employees of a foreign-owned fishing company. “When we are not at war with these people, they should not move the war to us because we are a peace loving people, we don’t know what they are fighting for and we don’t want to get involved,” Chileshe said. Asked how he knew their captors were not soldiers of President Laurent-Desire Kabila’s government, he said: “I have negotiated with them before so I know them, they are rebels. The last time they kidnapped two people, I talked to them and the people were released. I am rushing there right now, to Nsumbu near Lake Tanganyika, to secure the release of our people as soon as possible.” Chileshe said the captives had been moved from Mulilo in DRC to Chibanga near Nsumbu. He had no idea, however, what if any demands they might make to secure the release of the Zambian citizens. But he said there was no question that the Zambian authorities would meet with the captors to secure their release. Similar incidents have been reported in the past, as Zambians have fallen victim to “foreign forces” after raids across Zambia’s borders from war-torn Angola and DRC, he said. In recent weeks, the government of President Frederick Chiluba sent more troops to the troubled border areas to stop hit-and-run raids, abductions, and property and livestock theft. But despite their presence, Chileshe said the border zones remained unsafe. According to UNHCR figures this month, Zambia is currently hosting a total of more than 223,700 refugees, of whom an estimated 40,000 had come from DRC. Its population of 158,000 Angolan refugees two years ago has swelled by more than 28,000 people since fresh fighting broke out in Angola over the past nine months following the breakdown of the UN-brokered Lusaka accords. Their numbers, UNHCR officials told IRIN, were increasing. See also: ZAMBIA: More Angolan refugees enter Zambia. http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/zambia/20000828.phtml “This is very bad for investment,” an exasperated Chileshe told IRIN, “especially that all the people who have been kidnapped work for a fishing company here and they have not wronged the rebels in any way.” Zambian Home Affairs Minister Peter Machungwa said in a statement on Monday that because of the “sensitivity” of the matter, there would be no further official comment on the latest abductions. News reports in Lusaka said the authorities had been alerted to the kidnapping because originally 28 people had been abducted. Two were freed at the weekend and sent home to alert the authorities to start negotiations. At the weekend, UN Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari said during a visit to Zambia he was “concerned” at the spill-over of the conflicts. Gambari, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General for Special Assignments in Africa, cited at least eight conflicts raging in Africa, and said, “these conflicts are having a negative impact on the continent’s economy.” He lamented that much money and resources were being directed to waging and resolving conflicts when the funds could have been allocated towards developmental projects instead.