London takes Kinshasa arrests “very seriously”

Four British officials and an American working for the British foreign office were arrested in Kinshasa on Sunday. They are currently being held at a hotel in the DRC capital under “house arrest”, a UK foreign office spokeswoman told IRIN today. The UK is treating the arrests “very seriously”. UK minister Tony Lloyd telephoned President Laurent-Desire Kabila about the matter today. The five, including two ministry of defence officials, were on “legitimate” and “routine” business, reviewing “standard plans for evacuation in the event of an emergency”, the spokeswoman said. Meanwhile, Zimbabwean police are still investigating the case of three Americans arrested on Sunday for allegedly trying to smuggle weapons out of Zimbabwe. The men had travelled to Zimbabwe by road from the DRC. Airport security was alerted when one of the men had attempted to board a plane with a pistol. A security source in Harare who saw the impounded guns told IRIN “they were definitely not brand new”.