By Eddy Isango
Kinshasa - A powerful Democratic Republic of Congo senator accused of treason vowed from exile in Portugal to return home before the next legislative session begins in mid-September, the Portuguese news agency reported on Wednesday.
"I hope to be in my country to honour my professional obligations," ex-warlord and former presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba told Portugal's national news agency, Lusa.
"I hope to return with complete security and with the full support of the international community," Bemba said from his luxury home in Quinto do Lago, in southern Portugal. "I hope that the (DRC) government, when it hears this message, will understand and not prevent me from entering my country."
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| Bemba flew to Portugal in April for medical treatment |
Bemba flew to Portugal in April for medical treatment shortly after clashes pitting his militia against government troops broke out in Congo's capital in March, killing nearly 200 people.
While street battles raged, DRC's chief prosecutor issued a warrant for Bemba's arrest on charges of high treason, blaming him for the violence. Bemba had taken refuge in the South African Embassy in Kinshasa at the time.
When he sought a routine checkup and treatment for a leg fracture suffered months earlier, DRC's Senate gave Bemba permission to leave for 60 days, then granted a 45-day extension, which expired Tuesday at midnight. Eve Bazaiba, a senator from Bemba's party, said because the Senate was not in session, it could not immediately debate whether to grant him more time.
Bemba's spokesperson, Moise Musangana, said in Kinshasa that Bemba "has not returned because his security has not yet been guaranteed".
The ex-warlord's status as a lawmaker gives him immunity from prosecution. It is not clear, however, whether missing the deadline to return opens him to prosecution.
Bemba told Lusa that he wanted to return for the next legislative session, which starts September 15.
The DRC has been ravaged by years of dictatorship and war that have kept its people from profiting from its vast reserves of diamonds, gold and other resources. The country, the size of Western Europe, appeared to turn a corner last fall, holding its first free and fair elections in more than 40 years. Bemba came in second behind President Joseph Kabila, himself a former rebel, as well.
Bemba had refused to disband his personal militia. He had claimed he needed the private guard to ensure his safety in the capital's volatile political climate, while the government accused him of keeping the armed soldiers to mount an insurrection.
During the 1998-2002 war, Bemba ruled a vast chunk of north-eastern DRC as a warlord and rebel leader with help from neighbouring Uganda. After a peace agreement ended the war, he became one of the country's four vice-presidents in a reunited DRC. - Sapa-AP
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