Congo government confirms Kabila dead as son takes control

8:20 AM

KINSHASA - President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo is dead, the government has announced.

The statement was made on state television by a government spokesman, two days after Kabila was first reported to have been shot in an apparent coup attempt.

Kabila had been flown to the Zimbabwean capital Harare for treatment and there had been confusion over whether or not he was alive.

Yesterday, Information Minister Dominque Sakombi said in a televised statement that the president's son, Major-General Joseph Kabila, would take charge of the government for the time being.

- REUTERS