UN troops help free Kabila ally
2006-10-27 12:30
Kinshasa - United Nations peacekeepers freed a key ally of Congolese President Joseph Kabila on Friday after rival soldiers surrounded him for 24 hours in a building during fighting in a northern town.
Francois Joseph Mobutu Nzanga was surrounded in a building by hostile soldiers on Thursday during a visit to his home town of Gbadolite in the far north of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
UN spokesperson Jean-Tobie Okala said: "He was extracted and escorted to the airport by UN peacekeepers very early this morning ... He should be on his way to Kinshasa.
"He spent the night blocked in the radio station, but his life is no longer in danger."
Thursday's clashes between Nzanga Mobutu's bodyguards and soldiers loyal to Jean-Pierre Bemba, Kabila's rival in Sunday's presidential run-off, killed at least four people and underlined pre-electoral tensions in the DRC.