News

Probe into shooting of SA diplomat in DRC

December 06, 2009 Edition 1

Thomas Hubert

Kinshasa: The government is still investigating the shooting of a South African diplomat by members of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila's guard on Friday.

Second Secretary Maryse Ash was shot and wounded at about 2am on Friday as she drove along Avenue Roi Baudouin which leads to the office of the president, known as Palais de la Nation.

The government had hoped to fly her out on Friday or yesterday to hospital in South Africa, saying her condition was serious.

Kgomotso Molobi from the Department of International Relations and Co-operation, said yesterday: "Her position has stabilised and we're still working on the logistics of bringing her home."

The DRC government has said that Ash failed to stop at a roadblock manned by Republican Guards at the end of the avenue where it becomes a restricted area permanently closed to ordinary traffic from about 100m away from the presidential grounds.

This is believed to be one of the points which the government will investigate.

Molobi said no arrests had been made but investigations were continuing. He said the diplomat's name was being officially withheld because of the "sensitivity" of the case, but it is understood to be Ash.

She was inside an official vehicle leaving the presidential area when she was shot at, allegedly by the presidential guards. She was hit in the face with shrapnel and debris, a South African diplomat said.

DRC's communication minister Lambert Mende Omalanga said: An inquiry is under way to determine the causes of the incident." - Independent Foreign Service

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