DR Congo’s Defence minister visits conflict-hit east - again

KINSHASA - For the second time in less than a week, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Defence Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba has visited the east of the country, where Rwanda is accused of backing M23 rebels.

Bemba told residents in the main city, Goma, that government forces were working closely with UN peacekeepers to protect the population.

Violent attacks by the rebels have seen thousands flee to Goma.

The clashes have led to protests against the UN and Western countries, who demonstrators accuse of supporting Rwanda.

Rwanda denies backing the rebels who say they’re protecting minority Tutsis in eastern DR Congo from discrimination.

Meanwhile in Rome, an Italian judge has ruled that two employees of a U.N. agency cannot be tried over the deaths of the Italian ambassador to DR Congo, his bodyguard and a driver in 2021 because they have diplomatic immunity.

Luca Attanasio, bodyguard Vittorio Iacovacci and their driver Mustapha Milambo were killed during a botched kidnapping on a road in eastern Congo as they were heading toward a World Food Programme (WFP) project.

Rome prosecutors had requested a trial for Rocco Leone and Mansour Luguru Rwagaza, who at the time of the attack were respectively the deputy chief of the WFP in Congo and a security officer, accusing the pair of negligence in organising the trip.

However, Judge Marisa Mosetti ruled on Tuesday that as employees of the United Nations, the two men enjoyed diplomatic immunity and cannot therefore be tried.

The prosecutors said they would appeal.

A Democratic Republic of Congo military court last year sentenced six men to life in prison for the killings.