Bemba alleges “secret plans” by France, Belgium

The leader of the Congolese Liberation Front (CLF), Jean-Pierre Bemba, on Tuesday alleged that the French and Belgian governments were involved in a “secret plan” to strengthen the DRC government, help it consolidate its power and eliminate “certain” opposition leaders. “It is true, and I even have the name of the coordinator or the master planner of this scheme,” he told IRIN. “I cannot give out the details yet, because I am waiting for a reaction,” he said. According to Bemba the plot was mooted because of the wealth in the DRC and the foreign interests at play. “The Belgians, for example, want someone they can manipulate because of their mining interests in Katanga and Kasai regions,” he explained. “The French have never accepted the Anglo-Saxon interference in the DRC,” he noted. “The strategy of controlling Congo has been on for 40 years,” he said. “But before I am killed, I want people to know that I will be killed and why I have been killed,” he added. Bemba was quoted by AFP on Monday as saying that there was a secret plan by the French and Belgian secret services code-named “Malachite” aiming to support the current regime in Kinshasa and which would plan the physical elimination of certain leaders of the Congolese armed and unarmed opposition.