UN experts die investigating Congo violence

CONGO: The bodies of an American and a Swedish investigator with the United Nations and their Congolese interpreter were found in Central Kasai province, authorities said yesterday, more than two weeks after they disappeared while looking into recent violence there.

‘‘After tests . . . it is possible to identify the bodies as the two UN experts and their interpreter as being found near the Moyo river,’' Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende said. Investigations will continue to seek other missing Congolese colleagues, he said.

Michael Sharp, of the US, and Zaida Catalan, of Sweden, along with interpreter Betu Tshintela, driver Isaac Kabuayi and two motorbike drivers, went missing on March 12 while looking into large-scale violence and alleged human rights violations by the Congolese army and local militia groups.

Congo’s police inspector general, Charles Bisengimana, said the bodies were found Tuesday between the cities of Tshimbulu and Kananga, the provincial capital.

The confirmation came a day after Sharp’s father, John Sharp, of Hesston, Kansas, wrote on his Facebook page that the bodies of two Caucasians had been found in the search area, saying there was a high probability the dead were his son and his son’s colleague.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world body would conduct an inquiry into what happened to the two experts.

‘‘Michael and Zaida lost their lives seeking to understand the causes of conflict and insecurity in the DRC [Congo] in order to help bring peace to the country and its people,’' Guterres said.

Sharp and Catalan’s disappearance is the first time UN experts have been reported missing in Congo, Human Rights Watch has said, and it is the first recorded disappearance of international workers in the Kasai provinces.

Parts of Congo, particularly the east, have experienced insecurity for decades, but violence in the Kasai provinces in central Congo represents a new expansion of tensions. – AP