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ROC: Apparent assassination attempt on defence minister

NAIROBI, 18 July (IRIN) - An apparent assassination attempt involving a 10-minute frenzy of grenades, rockets and gunfire against Itihi Ossetoumba Lekoundzo, defence minister of the Republic of Congo (ROC) was reported to have taken place on Wednesday in Brazzaville, according to AP. Lekoundzo escaped harm, and there was no word of any injuries or deaths. Military officials linked the attack to disgruntled senior officers. Attackers fled after the arrival of police reinforcements.

The violence came a day after the compulsory retirement of several senior army officers. Most of the retiring officers had "never agreed to quit and give up their privileges", a senior intelligence officer told AP. The attack also came just before the army's announcement of low-ranking soldiers slated to be dismissed. Many of the soldiers were former militiamen who joined the army following the civil war that brought ROC President Denis Sassou Nguesso to power.

This was the second attempt on a member of Sassou Nguesso's government. The first, in 1999, was an equally unsuccessful attack on Justice Minister Martin Bemba. A former French colony, the ROC has been wracked by low-level violence since 1997, when Sassou Nguesso seized power from Pascal Lissouba after a prolonged civil war. All sides signed ceasefire agreements in November and December 1999.

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