Kiss of death

Catching up with what’s going on outside my little world.

The big news about DRC appears to be the return of Ebola, which in 2005 killed 250 people in Kikwit and is now suspected to have killed some 180 people in Western Kasai, with a further 200 or so possible cases. Our friend from Reuters reports that people from the affected area no longer kiss each other or shake hands. Fair enough.

Here in Kinshasa the news has barely registered, however. The talk is mostly about the east, where the conflict remains unresolved and threatens to escalate. President Kabila has given dissident general and self-proclaimed protector of the Tutsi minority Laurent Nkunda 21 days to send his men to “brassage” – the process by which they will be integrated within the National Army. It seems unlikely that he will agree, and the question remains whether or not the Rwandan government will get involved, despite assurances that they will not. Watch this space.

Meanwhile, J.P. Bemba (remember him?) is still in Portugal, and the opposition in disarray. Those of Bemba’s guards who gave themselves up to the UN after the events in March are still in the MONUC compound, learning Spanish with the Uruguayans. The UN doesn’t have a clue what to do with them.