Jean-Pierre Bemba pleads not guilty to charges of murder and rape as his war crimes trial begins at The Hague.
Jean-Pierre Bemba, former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has gone on trial for rape and murder allegedly committed by his troops in the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR).
The 48 year old pleaded not guilty as the trial began at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Monday afternoon.
Bemba is charged with three counts of war crimes and two counts of crimes against humanity for the alleged atrocities by about 1,500 fighters of his Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC) between October 2002 and March 2003.
He is the most senior political leader to be detained so far by the ICC.
"It is the first time in the history of international justice that a military commander is on trial on the basis of indirect criminal responsibility for rapes committed by his fighters," an official in the prosecutor's office told the AFP news agency.
The case, which is expected to continue for months, should serve as an "example" for others who lead fighters in war, he said.
'Unfair trial'
Jonah Hull, Al Jazeera's correspondent in The Hague, said the defence team told a pre-trial news conference that the court was likely to see "the most unfair trial in the history of international justice".
"[The defence] said that Bemba in essence had no command of his forces once they crossed the border into the Central African Republic and that ultimate responsibility lies with Ange-Felix Patasse, the then-president of the CAR, who invited Bemba's forces in to put down a coup in the first place."
But Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the ICC, told the news conference that "the evidence shows that the troops were always under the authority and command and control of Jean-Pierre Bemba".
"The MLC is the army of and owned by Jean-Pierre Bemba," he said.
"Bemba created it, to make money and to make power ... and that is the point for us: you will not make money or power by committing atrocities. You will be jailed."
So far, 759 victims have been authorised to participate in the trial, with a further 500 applicants for the court to consider, a registrar said.
"It's the first time in the history of international justice that such a large group of people has been authorised to participate," Paolina Massidda of the ICC's office of public counsel for victims was quoted by AFP as saying.
Prosecutors say that about 400 rapes were recorded in Bangui, the capital of the CAR.
These were carried out during five months of fighting as the MLC helped Patasse resist a coup led by Francois Bozize, the current CAR president.
But Aime Kilolo, Bemba's defence lawyer, said that the MLC "fought in the uniform of the Central African Republic and under its flag, it was the Central African authorities who were in charge of command and discipline".
Bemba fled DR Congo in 2007, after coming second to Joseph Kabila in a presidential election and subsequently refusing to disband his armed group. The decision led to clashes that left hundreds dead.
The former vice-president was arrested in Brussels in May 2008 on an ICC warrant. The court was asked to take the case by Bozize.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Monday, November 22, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Canada mining firm sued over role in DR Congo conflict
from BBC World News:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11725651?print=true
Relatives of victims and survivors of a massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo have filed a class action suit against the Canadian company Anvil Mining.
More than 70 civilians were allegedly killed by Congolese troops when they recaptured the town of Kilwa in 2004.
Anvil Mining is accused of providing logistical support to the military.
The company says it has not yet reviewed the allegations in detail, but it intends to defend itself.
The suit was brought in a Montreal court by the Canadian Association Against Impunity (CAAI) - a group which brings together survivors and relatives of victims and British, Canadian and Congolese non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which are supporting them.
Fighting for justice
Emmanuel Umpula Nkumba, from the Congolese advocacy group ACIDH, said: "We must continue to fight against impunity. The victims' families have never lost hope of seeing justice being done."
Matt Eisenbrandt is the legal co-ordinator of the Canadian Centre for International Justice, part of the association.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Patricia Feeney, Executive Director, RAID
It is important to set a benchmark for multinational companies operating in developing countries, particularly countries in conflict zones”
End Quote Patricia Feeney Raid's executive director
He told the BBC's Network Africa the case was being brought in Montreal because Anvil Mining is a Canadian corporation.
"There were attempts at holding people and the corporation responsible in Congo which met with a lot of problems and justice wasn't achieved there," he said. "So the victims have had to turn to Canada to seek justice."
Three Anvil employees were charged with complicity in war crimes in DR Congo but they were acquitted in June 2007, after a military trial which the United Nations said failed to meet international standards of fairness.
The company, which was Australian-owned at the time of the incident, has not denied that it supplied trucks and other logistical support to help Congolese troops get to Kilwa, where they recaptured the town from a rebel group in October 2004.
It argued that the firm had no option but to agree to the government's requisition request.
The CAAI, in its lawsuit, also alleges that Anvil's vehicles transported civilians "who were allegedly taken outside the town and executed by the military".
A UN report suggests that during the military operation, at least 73 civilians were killed.
Benchmark for conduct
The British group Raid (Rights and Accountability in Development) has amassed the testimony of many eyewitnesses and survivors.
Raid Executive Director Patricia Feeney, who is also president of the CAAI, said the allegations contained in the lawsuit were the most serious against a multinational company that Raid had come across in the last 10 years of working in southern and central Africa.
She said it was a case that would not go away until the circumstances of the killings had been examined.
"It is important to set a benchmark for multinational companies operating in developing countries, particularly countries in conflict zones," she told the BBC.
"They have an obligation to observe the same standards of conduct and respect for international rights as they would in their own jurisdiction."
In response to the suit, Anvil Mining said that over the years there had been numerous investigations and court proceedings but "no findings adverse to Anvil or any of its employees have arisen in respect of the Kilwa incident".
Relatives of victims and survivors of a massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo have filed a class action suit against the Canadian company Anvil Mining.
More than 70 civilians were allegedly killed by Congolese troops when they recaptured the town of Kilwa in 2004.
Anvil Mining is accused of providing logistical support to the military.
The company says it has not yet reviewed the allegations in detail, but it intends to defend itself.
The suit was brought in a Montreal court by the Canadian Association Against Impunity (CAAI) - a group which brings together survivors and relatives of victims and British, Canadian and Congolese non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which are supporting them.
Fighting for justice
Emmanuel Umpula Nkumba, from the Congolese advocacy group ACIDH, said: "We must continue to fight against impunity. The victims' families have never lost hope of seeing justice being done."
Matt Eisenbrandt is the legal co-ordinator of the Canadian Centre for International Justice, part of the association.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Patricia Feeney, Executive Director, RAID
It is important to set a benchmark for multinational companies operating in developing countries, particularly countries in conflict zones”
End Quote Patricia Feeney Raid's executive director
He told the BBC's Network Africa the case was being brought in Montreal because Anvil Mining is a Canadian corporation.
"There were attempts at holding people and the corporation responsible in Congo which met with a lot of problems and justice wasn't achieved there," he said. "So the victims have had to turn to Canada to seek justice."
Three Anvil employees were charged with complicity in war crimes in DR Congo but they were acquitted in June 2007, after a military trial which the United Nations said failed to meet international standards of fairness.
The company, which was Australian-owned at the time of the incident, has not denied that it supplied trucks and other logistical support to help Congolese troops get to Kilwa, where they recaptured the town from a rebel group in October 2004.
It argued that the firm had no option but to agree to the government's requisition request.
The CAAI, in its lawsuit, also alleges that Anvil's vehicles transported civilians "who were allegedly taken outside the town and executed by the military".
A UN report suggests that during the military operation, at least 73 civilians were killed.
Benchmark for conduct
The British group Raid (Rights and Accountability in Development) has amassed the testimony of many eyewitnesses and survivors.
Raid Executive Director Patricia Feeney, who is also president of the CAAI, said the allegations contained in the lawsuit were the most serious against a multinational company that Raid had come across in the last 10 years of working in southern and central Africa.
She said it was a case that would not go away until the circumstances of the killings had been examined.
"It is important to set a benchmark for multinational companies operating in developing countries, particularly countries in conflict zones," she told the BBC.
"They have an obligation to observe the same standards of conduct and respect for international rights as they would in their own jurisdiction."
In response to the suit, Anvil Mining said that over the years there had been numerous investigations and court proceedings but "no findings adverse to Anvil or any of its employees have arisen in respect of the Kilwa incident".
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Unacceptable Conditions on DR Congo Border
UN: Mass rapes on Angola-DRC border
Unicef says 650 women and girls locked up, tortured and sexually abused by security forces during mass expulsions.
source: Al Jazeera
More than 650 women and girls have been raped during mass expulsions from Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the past two months, according to a body of the United Nations.
Many of the victims said they were locked up and tortured for several weeks while they were raped repeatedly by security forces.
The report by the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) said 6,621 people arrived in Congo's western Kasai province, in two waves during October. It is not clear on which side of the border the rapes took place.
"The conditions of expulsion are still terrible. In many cases, sexual violence is reported and even cases of torture," the report said, citing 657 instances of sexual violence based on evidence collated by welcome committees on both sides of the border.
Separately, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing humanitarian workers, said the true figure was close to 100.
"We are not in a position to confirm in which country they (the rapes) happened, but we do call on the authorities of the two countries to investigate these accusations to find out whether the rapes took place and where," Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman of OCHA, said.
'No complaints'
Lambert Mende, the DRC information minister, said authorities had not received any reports of rape.
"We're not informed. We don't know, these figures are not confirmed," he said. "There are expulsions, perhaps there are rapes but we have received no complaints and we don't want to launch a dossier."
The report comes in the wake of an international outcry triggered by the rape of at least 303 civilians in eastern Congo between July 30 and August 3 by rebels in the town of Luvungi.
Angola and Congo often indulge in tit-for-tat expulsions and the figure touched 211,000 in 2009.
Angola helped the Congolese government fight off Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed rebels during fighting between 1998 and 2003, which drew in several neighbouring countries.
However, deteriorating relations between the two countries followed disputes over border demarcation, offshore oil ownership and closer Congolese relations with Rwanda and Uganda, its neighbours to the east.
Source:
Agencies
Unicef says 650 women and girls locked up, tortured and sexually abused by security forces during mass expulsions.
source: Al Jazeera
More than 650 women and girls have been raped during mass expulsions from Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the past two months, according to a body of the United Nations.
Many of the victims said they were locked up and tortured for several weeks while they were raped repeatedly by security forces.
The report by the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) said 6,621 people arrived in Congo's western Kasai province, in two waves during October. It is not clear on which side of the border the rapes took place.
"The conditions of expulsion are still terrible. In many cases, sexual violence is reported and even cases of torture," the report said, citing 657 instances of sexual violence based on evidence collated by welcome committees on both sides of the border.
Separately, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing humanitarian workers, said the true figure was close to 100.
"We are not in a position to confirm in which country they (the rapes) happened, but we do call on the authorities of the two countries to investigate these accusations to find out whether the rapes took place and where," Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman of OCHA, said.
'No complaints'
Lambert Mende, the DRC information minister, said authorities had not received any reports of rape.
"We're not informed. We don't know, these figures are not confirmed," he said. "There are expulsions, perhaps there are rapes but we have received no complaints and we don't want to launch a dossier."
The report comes in the wake of an international outcry triggered by the rape of at least 303 civilians in eastern Congo between July 30 and August 3 by rebels in the town of Luvungi.
Angola and Congo often indulge in tit-for-tat expulsions and the figure touched 211,000 in 2009.
Angola helped the Congolese government fight off Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed rebels during fighting between 1998 and 2003, which drew in several neighbouring countries.
However, deteriorating relations between the two countries followed disputes over border demarcation, offshore oil ownership and closer Congolese relations with Rwanda and Uganda, its neighbours to the east.
Source:
Agencies
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Congo general 'profits from blood gold'
By Thomas Fessy BBC News, North Kivu
A senior officer in the Democratic Republic of Congo has used the military to illegally profit from a gold mine, sources have told the BBC.
The BBC has evidence that Gen Gabriel Amisi Kumba installed a mining firm at the Omate mine in return for a 25% cut.
Following a mining ban in September, production is continuing at the mine under direct military control.
The general refused to answer questions about his role and the firm involved, Geminaco, denies there was a deal.
The lure of profits from mines in eastern DR Congo has turned the area into a battlefield.
Rebels target civilians in the surrounding villages near the border with Rwanda and Uganda and there have been reports of kidnapping, massacres and mass rapes, fuelled by the profits from minerals.
The military was sent in to suppress the rebels and ensure security for the local people.
Raw gold
During the last 12 months, Geminaco approached Gen Amisi, the second in command of the army, asking him to help it take over Omate.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
The gold goes to the brigade commander in charge of units which are supposed to hunt down rebels”
End Quote Soldier at Omate
Rene Mwinyi, head of Geminaco, told the BBC the company had the rights to mine the area.
In February, the general wrote to the regional army commander in North Kivu, telling him to evict a rival company, Socagrimines, in favour of Geminaco.
The BBC has a copy of the letter, which says: "I order you to proceed to the eviction of the administration in place and all military involved in mining activities and to reinstate Geminaco in its initial positions."
But the head of the government's mining division in North Kivu, Emmanuel Ndimubanzi, said the general should have had no role in the dispute between the two companies.
He added that neither Socagrimines nor Geminaco had the right to mine at Omate.
A well-placed source in the industry told the BBC the general benefited from the arrangement.
Map of DR Congo, showing North Kivu
"The head of Geminaco in Congo, Rene Mwinyi, is a friend of General Amisi, or 'Tango Fort' as they call him," he said.
"They struck a deal to exploit Omate gold mine, which would give Amisi 25% of the monthly production of the raw gold."
A soldier, who spent over two months at the mine, also told the BBC: "At Omate there is the company Geminaco which exploits the minerals… and there are also soldiers who were sent by our chief of staff, General Tango Fort, who are also mining."
"The gold goes to the brigade commander in charge of units which are supposed to hunt down rebels…it also goes to Kinshasa. This is very serious: Instead of benefiting the state, this money goes to unknown pockets."
Mr Mwinyi said no such deal was done with Gen Amisi.
However, the 25% arrangement was confirmed by a provincial government source. Like many of the people who spoke to me, he would not go on the record because of fear of reprisals.
A source at Socagrimines said the company had tried and failed to do a deal with Gen Amisi itself. He said it was impossible to mine in the area without military support.
'Soldiers desert posts'
In September, Congolese President Joseph Kabila ordered a ban on mineral production in the east of the country, to root out what he called "mafia groups" who control the trade.
Advertisement
Thomas Fessy visits the first Congolese mineral trading centre
It is part of efforts by the UN and government to make the industry more transparent - initiatives include new trading guidelines and the setting up of mineral exchange centres.
Geminaco has since been evicted from Omate, and its manager at the mine was arrested in October.
A source told the BBC that the manager was arrested because Gen Amisi was not getting his promised cut of the profits. The manager himself denied there was any deal between the company and the general.
He said Geminaco's ejection from the mine was related to the ban - which contradicts Mr Mwinyi's statement that the firm has an exemption from it.
Despite the ban, mining has continued at Omate - now under direct control of the military.
A gold digger confirmed that he was working at the Omate mine very recently. Armed soldiers control the mine and often beat the diggers, he said.
I was unable to visit the mine myself because of the heavy deployment of soldiers. However, a friend visited on foot and confirmed that production is continuing.
When the BBC contacted Gen Amisi, he refused to answer questions about Omate, saying he was not entitled to talk to the media.
He referred us to the army's spokesman who said we had no authority to investigate the general's interests.
DR Congo remains one of the world's poorest countries, despite its rich resources of minerals like gold, cassiterite and coltan.
The east of the country was ravaged by many years of war involving Congolese, Ugandan and Rwandan forces.
An estimated five million people died and the area has suffered continuing conflict involving armed groups who have committed numerous atrocities.
Just this summer, more than 300 civilians were raped in this area by a coalition of rebel groups.
An internal memo from the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo suggested that the villages attacked were vulnerable because there were no Congolese soldiers to protect them.
The soldiers deployed there had left their posts to go to mining areas nearby, including Omate.
A senior officer in the Democratic Republic of Congo has used the military to illegally profit from a gold mine, sources have told the BBC.
The BBC has evidence that Gen Gabriel Amisi Kumba installed a mining firm at the Omate mine in return for a 25% cut.
Following a mining ban in September, production is continuing at the mine under direct military control.
The general refused to answer questions about his role and the firm involved, Geminaco, denies there was a deal.
The lure of profits from mines in eastern DR Congo has turned the area into a battlefield.
Rebels target civilians in the surrounding villages near the border with Rwanda and Uganda and there have been reports of kidnapping, massacres and mass rapes, fuelled by the profits from minerals.
The military was sent in to suppress the rebels and ensure security for the local people.
Raw gold
During the last 12 months, Geminaco approached Gen Amisi, the second in command of the army, asking him to help it take over Omate.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
The gold goes to the brigade commander in charge of units which are supposed to hunt down rebels”
End Quote Soldier at Omate
Rene Mwinyi, head of Geminaco, told the BBC the company had the rights to mine the area.
In February, the general wrote to the regional army commander in North Kivu, telling him to evict a rival company, Socagrimines, in favour of Geminaco.
The BBC has a copy of the letter, which says: "I order you to proceed to the eviction of the administration in place and all military involved in mining activities and to reinstate Geminaco in its initial positions."
But the head of the government's mining division in North Kivu, Emmanuel Ndimubanzi, said the general should have had no role in the dispute between the two companies.
He added that neither Socagrimines nor Geminaco had the right to mine at Omate.
A well-placed source in the industry told the BBC the general benefited from the arrangement.
Map of DR Congo, showing North Kivu
"The head of Geminaco in Congo, Rene Mwinyi, is a friend of General Amisi, or 'Tango Fort' as they call him," he said.
"They struck a deal to exploit Omate gold mine, which would give Amisi 25% of the monthly production of the raw gold."
A soldier, who spent over two months at the mine, also told the BBC: "At Omate there is the company Geminaco which exploits the minerals… and there are also soldiers who were sent by our chief of staff, General Tango Fort, who are also mining."
"The gold goes to the brigade commander in charge of units which are supposed to hunt down rebels…it also goes to Kinshasa. This is very serious: Instead of benefiting the state, this money goes to unknown pockets."
Mr Mwinyi said no such deal was done with Gen Amisi.
However, the 25% arrangement was confirmed by a provincial government source. Like many of the people who spoke to me, he would not go on the record because of fear of reprisals.
A source at Socagrimines said the company had tried and failed to do a deal with Gen Amisi itself. He said it was impossible to mine in the area without military support.
'Soldiers desert posts'
In September, Congolese President Joseph Kabila ordered a ban on mineral production in the east of the country, to root out what he called "mafia groups" who control the trade.
Advertisement
Thomas Fessy visits the first Congolese mineral trading centre
It is part of efforts by the UN and government to make the industry more transparent - initiatives include new trading guidelines and the setting up of mineral exchange centres.
Geminaco has since been evicted from Omate, and its manager at the mine was arrested in October.
A source told the BBC that the manager was arrested because Gen Amisi was not getting his promised cut of the profits. The manager himself denied there was any deal between the company and the general.
He said Geminaco's ejection from the mine was related to the ban - which contradicts Mr Mwinyi's statement that the firm has an exemption from it.
Despite the ban, mining has continued at Omate - now under direct control of the military.
A gold digger confirmed that he was working at the Omate mine very recently. Armed soldiers control the mine and often beat the diggers, he said.
I was unable to visit the mine myself because of the heavy deployment of soldiers. However, a friend visited on foot and confirmed that production is continuing.
When the BBC contacted Gen Amisi, he refused to answer questions about Omate, saying he was not entitled to talk to the media.
He referred us to the army's spokesman who said we had no authority to investigate the general's interests.
DR Congo remains one of the world's poorest countries, despite its rich resources of minerals like gold, cassiterite and coltan.
The east of the country was ravaged by many years of war involving Congolese, Ugandan and Rwandan forces.
An estimated five million people died and the area has suffered continuing conflict involving armed groups who have committed numerous atrocities.
Just this summer, more than 300 civilians were raped in this area by a coalition of rebel groups.
An internal memo from the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo suggested that the villages attacked were vulnerable because there were no Congolese soldiers to protect them.
The soldiers deployed there had left their posts to go to mining areas nearby, including Omate.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
DR Congo to Copy China?
Shanghai World Expo, another success for China: DR Congo operator
KINSHASA, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- "The Shanghai World Expo was another great milestone in China after the 2008 Beijing Olympics," Faustin Kiala, an economic operator in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), told Xinhua on Tuesday.
Kiala, who is also the president of the Bana Mbanza Mpangu farmers' association, said that after the successful organization of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the Chinese people have demonstrated to the international community that they have taken their destiny in their own hands and that they are committed to a development process which today makes their country one of the greatest economic, political, cultural and scientific nation on the planet.
"I think that a country like DR Congo should copy the Chinese development model so that she can also become an economic powerhouse in Africa.
"In the agricultural sector, for example, we have a lot to learn from China. In DR Congo, we have very fertile soils and water sources that can help us to carry out extensive farming. China has shown her capability to feed the over one billion people and export more food to other parts of the world. This is a an agricultural powerhouse that we should emulate," he explained.
The president of Bana Mbanza Mpangu association pointed out the need for DR Congo to develop close relations with China, especially in the agricultural, cultural and tourism sectors.
"For us at the associational level, we are using the Chinese model to manage our organization and develop our structures. We are still searching for Chinese partners who can help us to develop our agro-pastoral zone," he said.
Kiala said the Shanghai World Expo opened China to the world, and more specifically to DR Congo.
"This was an opening up by the people of China to the world. The success of the Expo was the fruit of seriousness, selflessness, hard work and patriotism exhibited by the Chinese people," Kiala added.
He regretted over the failure by DR Congo to strongly participate in the Shanghai World Expo.
"It's so sad that DR Congo did not send enough economic operators to this 'give and take' exhibition. China is an indispensable partner and an example to be emulated by all developing countries," he affirmed.
Kiala said he would like to see China and DR Congo coming up with Sino-Congolese agricultural exhibition, so that there can be exchange of experience and skills between farmers and researchers from the two countries.
"Just as China wants to open up to the world, DR Congo must open up to China," he told Xinhua.
The Bana Mbanza Mpangu association is an agricultural organization bringing together Congolese intellectuals from various domains. This organization has set up a number of agricultural and educational projects in Kinshasa and Bas Congo provinces, where it possesses huge tracts of agricultural land.
source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-11/02/c_13587360_2.htm
KINSHASA, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- "The Shanghai World Expo was another great milestone in China after the 2008 Beijing Olympics," Faustin Kiala, an economic operator in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), told Xinhua on Tuesday.
Kiala, who is also the president of the Bana Mbanza Mpangu farmers' association, said that after the successful organization of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the Chinese people have demonstrated to the international community that they have taken their destiny in their own hands and that they are committed to a development process which today makes their country one of the greatest economic, political, cultural and scientific nation on the planet.
"I think that a country like DR Congo should copy the Chinese development model so that she can also become an economic powerhouse in Africa.
"In the agricultural sector, for example, we have a lot to learn from China. In DR Congo, we have very fertile soils and water sources that can help us to carry out extensive farming. China has shown her capability to feed the over one billion people and export more food to other parts of the world. This is a an agricultural powerhouse that we should emulate," he explained.
The president of Bana Mbanza Mpangu association pointed out the need for DR Congo to develop close relations with China, especially in the agricultural, cultural and tourism sectors.
"For us at the associational level, we are using the Chinese model to manage our organization and develop our structures. We are still searching for Chinese partners who can help us to develop our agro-pastoral zone," he said.
Kiala said the Shanghai World Expo opened China to the world, and more specifically to DR Congo.
"This was an opening up by the people of China to the world. The success of the Expo was the fruit of seriousness, selflessness, hard work and patriotism exhibited by the Chinese people," Kiala added.
He regretted over the failure by DR Congo to strongly participate in the Shanghai World Expo.
"It's so sad that DR Congo did not send enough economic operators to this 'give and take' exhibition. China is an indispensable partner and an example to be emulated by all developing countries," he affirmed.
Kiala said he would like to see China and DR Congo coming up with Sino-Congolese agricultural exhibition, so that there can be exchange of experience and skills between farmers and researchers from the two countries.
"Just as China wants to open up to the world, DR Congo must open up to China," he told Xinhua.
The Bana Mbanza Mpangu association is an agricultural organization bringing together Congolese intellectuals from various domains. This organization has set up a number of agricultural and educational projects in Kinshasa and Bas Congo provinces, where it possesses huge tracts of agricultural land.
source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-11/02/c_13587360_2.htm
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