Kinshasa a décidé de suspendre sa coopération militaire avec Bruxelles, a déclaré le ministère belge de la Défense à Jeune Afrique ce jeudi 13 avril. La semaine dernière, le ministre belge des Affaires étrangères avait critiqué la nomination de Bruno Tshibala au poste de Premier ministre.

« Notre attaché de Défense à Kinshasa a reçu un courrier nous informant de la suspension de notre coopération militaire » a déclaré Laurence Mortier, porte-parole du ministère belge de la Défense à Jeune Afrique ce jeudi 13 avril. Une information confirmée par une source militaire congolaise sous couvert d’anonymat.

« Nous sommes en train de faire un inventaire de ce que ce cette coopération recouvrait », a-t-elle poursuivi, ne souhaitant pas s’exprimer davantage sur les motivations de cette décision, une première depuis plus d’une décennie.

Rompue suite à l’arrivée au pouvoir de Laurent-Désiré Kabila à la tête d’une rébellion, en 1997, la coopération militaire entre la RDC et l’ancienne puissance coloniale avait été rétablie peu de temps après l’arrivée au pouvoir de l’actuel président, Joseph Kabila, et n’avait plus été interrompue depuis.

Elle concerne principalement des actions de formation. Les militaires belges avaient notamment formé deux brigades d’interventions rapides, qui s’étaient illustrées contre l’insurrection Enyele, dans l’Équateur, au début des années 2010, puis contre la rébellion du Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) au Nord-Kivu, en 2012 et 2013. Ils accompagnent encore les militaires congolais sur le terrain aujourd’hui.

Critiques de Bruxelles

Cette décision intervient dans un contexte de tension entre Bruxelles et Kinshasa. Le vice-Premier ministre belge et ministre des Affaires étrangères, Didier Reynders, avait notamment critiqué la nomination au poste de Premier ministre de Bruno Tshibala, un transfuge de l’opposition dans un communiqué le 8 avril dernier.

Cette nomination « s’écarte de la lettre et de l’esprit de l’Accord de la Saint-Sylvestre » avait-il notamment estimé. « La Belgique est préoccupée par le fait que les autorités de transition ne disposent pas du large soutien nécessaire », avait-il ajouté.

« Dans ce contexte, et suite à la forte détérioration de la situation sécuritaire et des droits de l’Homme dans différentes parties du pays, la Belgique se concertera avec ses partenaires internationaux concernant les relations avec la RDC » avait encore affirmé le ministre belge. Visiblement, Kinshasa a décidé de prendre les devants.</s>The Democratic Republic of Congo has suspended military cooperation with former colonial power Belgium after Brussels criticised President Joseph Kabila's choice of prime minister, sources said Friday.

"The decision to suspend military cooperation with Belgium has taken effect. This measure was pending since (Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders) came out and attacked the Congolese authorities," a government official said on condition of anonymity.

Reynders had criticised last week's appointment of Bruno Tshibala as premier as against "the letter and the spirit" of a power-sharing deal brokered to avert a political crisis after Kabila refused to step down after his mandate ran out in December.

The deal, brokered by the influential Catholic Church, called for an opposition leader to be named prime minister -- but Tshibala had been excluded from the main "Rassemblement" (Unity) opposition coalition.

Belgium's military attache in Kinshasa was notified of the decision to suspend military cooperation "at the beginning of the week", a Belgian defence ministry spokeswoman told AFP.

She added that the practical implications of the move "are being analysed", without providing further comment.

Military cooperation between DR Congo and its former colonial master had a bloody start days after the vast central African country's independence in 1960, with a mutiny by Congolese soldiers calling themselves the Public Force against their white officers.

The collaboration came to a halt at the beginning of the 1990s as Western nations cut their ties with dictator Mobutu Sese Seko after accusing the regime of massacring students.

The two countries' militaries began working together again when Kabila came to power in 2001 following the assassination of his father Laurent Kabila.

The elder Kabila, who had chased Mobutu from power in 1997, had prioritised military cooperation with China and North Korea.

Some 30 Belgian troops had been in Congo under the most recent cooperation arrangement, largely training Congolese soldiers. Belgian paratroopers had also been coming to train in joint manoeuvres with the Congolese army.

South Africa, China, the US and France also provide training to Congolese troops.</s>Opposition Calls For Democratic Republic Of The Congo's President To Step Down

Tensions have been building in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since December, when the president's term ended but elections weren't held. He's still in office and many are angry about that.</s>Opposition Calls For Democratic Republic Of The Congo's President To Step Down

Tensions have been building in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since December, when the president's term ended but elections weren't held. He's still in office and many are angry about that.

To the Democratic Republic of Congo next, where political tension is mounting. Opposition is calling for the president to step down. A peace deal has stalled. Here's NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton.

OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON, BYLINE: Planned nationwide protests against DR Congo's president fell flat this week after the authorities banned gatherings of more than 10 people. Instead, the normally bustling capital, Kinshasa, was a ghost town. But that won't stop opposition to President Joseph Kabila says Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, Congolese political analyst at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

GEORGES NZONGOLA-NTALAJA: He is in power because of force. He controls the force and the fact that the international community has allowed that to continue.

QUIST-ARCTON: After 16 years in power, Kabila's two-term presidential limit expired in December. The opposition accuses him of delaying overdue elections last year to buy time. Failure to hold a vote led to protests and a deadly crackdown.

QUIST-ARCTON: Ceremonial guards stand to attention ahead of a rare address to Parliament by President Kabila last week.

QUIST-ARCTON: Kabila pledged to hold elections, salvage political deal mediated by influential Catholic bishops and appoint a prime minister from the opposition. That last move has split the opposition, which rejects the new prime minister they say was unilaterally named by Kabila. The opposition says Bruno Tshibala does not represent them and was kicked out of the alliance last month. Again, Congolese analyst Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja.

NZONGOLA-NTALAJA: The people in Kinshasa are up in arms against this decision

QUIST-ARCTON: Kabila has warned against foreign meddling in Congo's affairs but he's under fire from the Trump administration. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley is talking tough about Congo, questioning the U.N. peacekeeping mission's relationship with the Kabila leadership.

NIKKI HALEY: The government is corrupt. In other words, the U.N. is aiding a government that is inflicting predatory behavior against its own people.

QUIST-ARCTON: Congo watchers say the Catholic Church must again step in to try to end the political stalemate. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR news, Dakar.</s>Congolese authorities have arrested two people suspected of involvement in the murder of two U.N. workers in central Democratic Republic of Congo, but one of the prisoners has escaped, a senior prosecutor said Friday.

The announcement was the first reported sign of progress in an inquiry into the deaths of American Michael Sharp and Swede Zaida Catalan, investigators monitoring U.N. Security Council sanctions against individuals and armed groups in Congo.

Their bodies were discovered in a shallow grave on March 27, two weeks after they disappeared in the remote and sparsely populated Kasai-Central province.

Their Congolese interpreter and three Congolese motorbike drivers who accompanied them have not been found, according to the United Nations.

General Joseph Ponde, the army's top prosecutor, did not say when the two suspects were arrested, but said the remaining one had been transferred between facilities on April 4 — meaning the operation must have happened more than a week ago.

He referred to the one suspect in custody, Daniel Mbayi Kabasele, as an "insurgent," without offering further detail or suggesting a motive.

Four police officers responsible for guarding the suspects had been arrested following the escape, he told journalists.

The U.N. mission in Congo had no immediate comment.

Millions died in regional conflicts in eastern Congo between 1996-2003, most from hunger and disease, and dozens of armed groups continue to fight over natural resources and prey on the civilian population.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed and more than one million displaced since last August in central Congo's Kasai region due to fighting between a local militia and security forces. The United Nations has identified at least 23 mass graves.

Meanwhile, Congo has suspended its military cooperation with former colonial power Belgium in protest against criticism last week by Belgium's foreign minister of President Joseph Kabila's selection of a new prime minister, defense minister Crispin Atama Tabe told Reuters on Friday.

The move underlines growing tensions between Congo and international powers, who are pushing for an election by the end of the year to replace Kabila after he refused to step down when his constitutional mandate expired in December.

Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders said the nomination of Bruno Tshibala violated the spirit of a December deal with the opposition to form an interim power-sharing government.

Belgian defense ministry spokeswoman Laurence Mortier confirmed that Congo had informed Belgium of its intention to end the cooperation, which included around 30 Belgian military trainers in Congo who may be withdrawn as a result.</s>* S&P says Republic of Congo ratings affirmed at 'B-/B'; outlook stable

* S&P says view of Republic of Congo's creditworthiness is constrained by weak institutional effectiveness, low income levels, and high dependence on oil

* S&P on Republic of Congo-stable outlook reflects expectation that current account and fiscal deficits will reduce from current levels over next 12 months

* S&P says expect Republic of Congo's fiscal deficit to decline, averaging about 4.3% of GDP between 2017 and 2020

* S&P on Republic of Congo - forecast the current account deficit to decline in the coming years, in line with an increase in oil production and prices Source text (bit.ly/2n1M5tA)
The Democratic Republic of the Congo suspends its military cooperation with Belgium.