Nigeria Content Online

Democratic Republic
of Congo has arrested more than 30 people after a group of armed men
attacked the residence of President Joseph Kabila in a suspected coup
bid, authorities said on Monday.

Information
Minister Lambert Mende said seven people were killed during the
fighting that followed Sunday’s attack on Mr Kabila’s Kinshasa
residence, up from an initial toll of six.

Mr Mende said
around sixty men armed with light weapons, rocket propelled grenades
and machetes attempted to break into Mr Kabila’s house but were
repelled by the Republican Guard, one of whom was seriously injured.
Fighting then spread to a nearby army base before calm was restored.

“At the moment we
have no idea (why this happened) but there are lots of rumours,” Mr
Mende said in an interview, adding it was not clear whether there was
foreign involvement.

Mr Mende said some
of the attackers appeared to have military training but he denied
suggestions that the attack had been carried out by members of the
Republican Guard who were unhappy with their living conditions.

A presidential source said on Sunday that Mr Kabila was not in the residence when the attack happened and that he was safe.

Mr Kabila came to
power when his father was assassinated in 2001. He faces presidential
and parliamentary elections in November this year, the second such
polls since the official end of the 1998-2003 war.

In a controversial
January 15 move, parliament backed proposals by Mr Kabila to reduce the
presidential vote to a single round, getting rid of the possibility of
a run-off between the two leading candidates if neither has an absolute
majority.

The change means the winner can claim the presidency with less than
50 percent of popular support. That is seen boosting Mr Kabila’s
chances of victory because of the fragmented state of the opposition.