Guns turned into bikes
2005-02-18 10:07
Kinshasa - More than 500 firearms were officially handed over on Thursday as part of a modern swords-into-plowshares programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In an attempt to stem endemic violence in the remote Katanga region, the guns were traded for bicycles during a week last month by a non-government organisation called Parec.
The reverend Ngoy Mulunda, president of the organisation, says he intends to stage similar campaigns in other parts of the mining province where armed gangs are holding the population to ransom and pillaging natural resources. - AFP
- SAPA