Opponents stage coup attempt in Congo

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- Opponents to embattled Congolese President Laurent Kabila staged a coup attempt Tuesday afternoon around his home. Kabila has been fighting multiple rebel armies for more than two years, witnesses said.

Presidential aide Eddy Kapend went on national television shortly after the shooting ended to appeal for calm, but he made no mention of the incident.

Kapend ordered all airports and borders closed, but gave no other details.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured or killed in the shooting. The gunfire apparently lasted for less than an hour.

MESSAGE BOARD Strife in the Congo

Following Kapend's broadcast, Kinshasa residents hurried home, and many streets were quickly deserted. But no increased military presence could be immediately seen in the capital city of the vast Central African nation.

Kabila's hilltop residence near downtown Kinshasa, known as the Marble Palace, is usually heavily guarded by soldiers and a North Korean-made tank.

Kabila has been fighting a civil war since August 1998, when rebel forces backed by Kabila's former allies, Rwanda and Uganda, turned against him. In the war's early stages, the rebels reached the outskirts of Kinshasa before being turned back by Kabila's army, which is now supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Copyright 2000   The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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