Congo President Calls for Inquiry Into Death of Top General

(Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo's president called for a rapid investigation into the sudden death of the country's head of military intelligence shortly after his suspension from the army.

General Delphin Kahimbi died Friday morning in Kinshasa, the capital, President Felix Tshisekedi told his council of ministers later that day, according to minutes of the meeting published Saturday on the prime minister's website.

“The president of the Republic wished that investigations would be rapidly undertaken to determine the exact circumstances of his death,” the minutes of the meeting said.

The army suspended Kahimbi in the days before his death for allegedly hiding weapons, attempted destabilization, and putting Tshisekedi's government under surveillance, the United Nations-backed broadcaster Radio Okapi reported, citing Congo's National Security Council.

Kahimbi, born in 1969, was a close ally of former President Joseph Kabila. He fought for the rebel group led by Kabila's father that liberated Congo from the 32-year dictatorship of Mobutu Sese-Seko in 1997, later commanding government troops in eastern Congo against repeated uprisings.

In 2016, Kahimbi was sanctioned by the European Union for “planning, directing, or committing acts that constitute serious human rights violations or abuses” in Congo.

Kahimbi's wife told the Reuters news agency Friday that Kahimbi died at home of a heart attack. Tshisekedi's spokesman, Kasongo Mwema Yamba Yamba, said that the cause of death was still unknown, in a message to Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael J. Kavanagh in Kinshasa at mkavanagh9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Paul Abelsky

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