Washington, DC — A day after he was apparently shot in his presidential palace there are still conflicting reports on the fate of Congo's President Laurent Kabila.
Countries surrounding the central African nation, and almost all Western nations, have publicly declared their belief that he is dead. At the White House a national security spokesperson said "a number of credible reports," seen by U.S. officials convinced them that Kabila was dead.
Congo government officials however continue to insist that although Kabila was wounded by gunfire at the presidential palace Tuesday he remains alive and hospitalized in Zimbabwe.
Earlier today Zimbabwe Defense Minister Moven Mahachi was reported as saying that Kabila had died while being airlifted to Harare. He has since backed away from that position. Other reports leaking out of Zimbabwe say Kabila's body is there and the government is awaiting instructions on what to do with it.
In an emergency meeting this morning, Congo cabinet officials placed Mr. Kabila's son Joseph in charge of the troubled nation. "Until President Kabila has recovered, and to ensure stability, the government has decided to give command of the government and military to Major General Joseph Kabila," the Minister of Communications said afterward.
The younger Kabila is not considered a popular figure in Congo. He accompanied his father during the 1997 rebel thrust to Kinshasa and was rewarded with the title of Major-General.
Since then he has headed the campaign against former allies that have rebeled against the Kabila regime and has been accused of a variety of human rights abuses. To many in Congo he is seen as a beneficiary of nepotism rather than a powerful figure in his own right.
Joseph Kabila has spent most of his life in Uganda and Tanzania as an exile. He speaks the East African language Swahili better than the Congolese language of Lingala.
Rebel movements have denied responsibility for Tuesday's shooting and claim to be committed to the stalled Lusaka Peace accords signed in 1999 but few observers hold out much hope for stability as the inevitable jockeying for power begins. Already, an announced merger of rebel groups has been rejected by one key player.
