DR Congo 'prophet' on the run after attacks kill 100

A self-proclaimed "prophet" and televangelist blamed for violence that killed more than 100 people in DR Congo's two main cities has fled the country, the government said today.
Supporters of Joseph Munkugubila Mutombo, who describes himself as God's "last envoy to humanity after Jesus Christ and Paul of Tarsus", said it was the army that triggered the deadly unrest in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi.
The government said its forces fought back a "terrorist offensive" yesterday, including attacks on the airport and main army headquarters in the capital as well as armed youths in the second city of Lubumbashi.
Government spokesperson Lambert Mende said a total of 103 people were killed, 95 attackers and eight members of the armed forces.

"The death toll is heavy, very heavy," he told reporters.
Mukungubila, who ran for president in 2006, had charged in a December 5 open letter that President Joseph Kabila was colluding with the regime of neighbouring Rwanda and argued he should not remain head of state.

"He has, courageously, vanished," Mende said.
"He himself does not believe that his cause is right, a cause for which he is claiming responsibility in phone calls from a neighbouring country, or not too far away from ours. This man is a fugitive, he's on the run," he said.
The spokesperson said those involved in what appeared to be coordinated attacks included several repeat offenders who had benefited from amnesty but no members of the security forces.

After taking control early yesterday of the national radio and television (RNTC) premises in Kinshasa and holding reporters hostage, some armed youths clearly stated they were acting for Mukungubila, whom they call "the prophet of the eternal".
His "Ministry of Restoration from Black Africa" said in an online statement published yesterday that the armed forces had attacked the pastor's home in Lubumbashi on Sunday, drawing armed reprisals.