NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      KINSHASA (CWNews.com) - Government soldiers fought back rebel incursions into the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, carrying out reprisals against rebel soldiers and suspected rebels alike. Meanwhile, the Fides news agency at the Vatican raised the death toll in a weekend massacre to 207, including a priest, nuns, and seminarians.

      Victorious government soldiers prowled Kinshasa during the day, shooting, torturing, and even burning captured rebels. Scattered rebel groups continued to vow that they will capture the city. Congo has been embroiled in violence since August 2 when President Laurent Kabila ordered Rwandan soldiers who helped him come to power last year to leave the country. On Wednesday, Pope John Paul II denounced the massacres of civilians and prisoners, calling for all sides to respect life and honor negotiations.

      The violence now threatens to turn into a witch hunt as Kabila exhorted the public, on television and radio, to turn in suspected traitors and to take up the fight themselves "with spears or arrows, hands, guns, and sticks." Voice of the People radio said, "All enemies must be denounced and arrested."