Four mine workers released by kidnappers in Eastern Congo

A Frenchman and three Congolese men who were kidnapped in March in eastern Congo have been released. They were abducted, along with a Tanzanian released a month ago, from the Namoya gold mine run by Canadian firm Banro Mining Corp in Salamabila. The four were released after several days of negotiations with the kidnappers.

The captors, residents of Salamabila who felt Banro Mining Corp was not looking out for the community, had asked the company for one million dollars (£781,000) in ransom, said Maniema provincial interior minister Bonaventure Saleh Zakuani. The four released on Saturday are on their way to Kindu, the capital of the Maniema province, he said. The rebel group Rahiya Mutomboki has criticised the mining company for not giving access or jobs to young miners who had been working on the site before it took over.