An estimated one million people live in the region. Weapons cache discovered in major Kinshasa hotel DRC radio last night reported that a cache of weapons was discovered in Kinshasa in the room of the Memling hotel's technical director - a Belgian who is currently away on holiday. As a result, the hotel's director Cornelius Bik who is Dutch, was arrested by the security services but was later released after questioning. Relations between DRC and the former colonial power Belgium are already tense, following the seizure of weapons at the Belgian consulate in Lubumbashi earlier this year. Rebels kill 30 at Goma checkpoint Humanitarian sources told IRIN today some 30 people were killed at a checkpoint near Goma on Saturday night.
Information is sketchy, but the attack was reportedly carried out by a group of rebels.
A Belgian national is reportedly among the dead. The Sudanese soldiers are part of a group of 114 who were captured over a year ago in the northern Kitgum area. A senior army officer, quoted by the newspaper, said Uganda was now awaiting the return of two Ugandan soldiers held in Sudan and abducted Ugandan schoolgirls. However, a statement issued by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army today, reported by 'New Vision', said plans to free the girls had been put on hold. The LRA claimed the army was planning to attack the rebels during the handover, saying 5,000 troops had been sent to the handover area.