Kabila's Body Flown to DRCThe body of the late Congolese President Laurent Kabila was flown back Saturday morning to Lubumbashi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from the Zimbabwean capital Harare.Zimbabwean Vice-President Simon Muzenda and Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa were on the same Boeing 737 plane that carried Kabila's body. An Air Zimbabwe Boeing 737 was provided for part of the Zimbabwean delegation that included Defense Minister Moven Mahachi, Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge and Air Force Commander Perence Shiri. Kabila's body was seen off at the Harare International Airport by President Robert Mugabe who had to cut short his stay at the 21st France-Africa conference this week because of Kabila's death. The lily white coffin arrived at the airport at about 8:40 a.m. (local time) mounted on a gun carriage accompanied by a presidential motorcade. A short ceremony was performed in which the Zimbabwean government officially handed over the body of Kabila to DRC officials led by Education Minister Ndombasi Yerodia. The Zimbabwe National Army band performed solemn music as the body of Kabila arrived at the airport. Kabila's body would lie in state in Lubumbashi until Sunday when it would be transferred to the capital, Kinshasa, for burial on Tuesday. He was shot by his bodyguard last Tuesday at his palace and was flown to Harare for treatment where he was declared dead on Thursday from the wounds he sustained in the attack. |
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