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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: Former prime minister charged in Brussels court

NAIROBI, 26 June 2003 (IRIN) - A former Congolese prime minister, Leon Kengo wa Dondo, has been charged by a Brussels court with money laundering during the reign of late President Mobutu Sese Seko, Belga news agency reported on Wednesday.

The case against Kengo wa Dondo dates back to 9 July 1997, when Belgian justice officials opened an inquiry into money laundering allegations leveled against senior officials of the Mobutu administration by the government of Laurent-Desire Kabila, a former rebel leader who toppled Mobutu.

Kabila also changed the name of the country from Zaire to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Kengo wa Dondo served three terms as prime minister under Mobutu, his final tenure ending on 2 April 1997 when he was replaced by Etienne Tshisekedi as the Ugandan and Rwandan-backed rebellion led by Kabila rapidly approached the capital, Kinshasa.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the Brussels court of appeals postponed a decision on the admissibility of a case against DRC former Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi on charges of inciting hatred against Rwandan Tutsis.

When war erupted against the government of Kabila in August 1998, Yerodia called on the public "to crush" Rwandan Tutsis whom he described as "vermin". Rwanda, who had helped bring Kabila to power, entered the DRC in support of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) rebel movement.

Yerodia was a longtime colleague of Kabila, who was assassinated on 16 January 2001.

In April, the government of Kabila's son, Joseph, named Yerodia as one of four vice-presidents for the national transitional government, currently due to be installed on 30 June.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Other

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