Free Republic

Three Americans convicted for their role in a failed coup in Democratic Republic of Congo last year have had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment, the presidency has said. They were among 37 people sentenced to death last September by a military court. The three were accused of leading an attack on both the presidential palace and the home of an ally of President Félix Tshisekedi last May. The overturning of the sentences comes ahead of a visit to DR Congo by the newly appointed US senior advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos. Boulos, father-in-law to President Donald Trump's daughter,...

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi, has reached out directly to President Donald J. Trump with a historic proposal: help defeat a brutal rebel force terrorizing his nation, and in return, America will gain direct access to one of the world’s richest untapped troves of critical minerals—worth an estimated $24 trillion. According to a letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal, President Tshisekedi offered Trump exclusive mining opportunities through the newly launched U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund, a Trump-led initiative aimed at reshaping global investment through pro-American partnerships. “Your election has ushered in the golden age...

BUKAVU, Congo — Rwanda-backed rebels have "occupied" a second major city in mineral-rich eastern Congo, Congo's government said Sunday, as M23 rebels positioned themselves at the governor's office in Bukavu and pledged to clean up after the "old regime." Associated Press journalists witnessed scores of residents cheering on the rebels after they entered Bukavu following a dayslong march from Goma, a city of 2 million people they seized last month. The rebels saw little resistance from government forces against the unprecedented expansion of their reach after their years of fighting. Congo's government vowed to restore order in Bukavu, a city...

At least 5 people have been killed and around 50 injured on July 25, 2022, after hundreds of protesters attacked a United Nations headquarters in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, demanding that the mission leaves the country for failing to protect the population. The protest started after President Felix Tshisekedi’s party and civil society organizations called for the demonstration in Goma after the president of the Senate, Modeste Bahati, called on the UN’s MONUSCO mission to leave Congo in mid-July. The mission is present in the country for more than 20 years. It is the largest peacekeeping mission...