Italian envoy Luca Attanasio murder suspects arrested, Congolese police say

Congolese police say they have arrested key suspects linked to the murder of an Italian diplomat, nearly a year since the incident in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to Aba Van Ang, the Provincial Commissioner for the North Kivu police, six men were arrested on Wednesday. They were presented to Constant Ndima, the Governor of North Kivu and are said to be "serious criminals, who have accomplices operating on motorbikes".

The revelations came 11 months after the Italian envoy Luca Attanasio was killed in an ambush in Nyiragongo territory, four kilometres from the eastern DRC town of Goma.

He was attacked by armed gunmen who also killed his bodyguard and his driver as they drove on a road considered "dangerous".

The provincial commissioner said that the men were “criminals [who] often kidnap international officials" in North Kivu, but did not reveal their identities.

“Some were operating in neighbouring countries and in the DRC and Maniema province, while others were carrying out their criminal activities in the city of Goma and its surroundings," the North Kivu provincial police commissioner said.

Romy Ekuka Lipopo, Vice-Governor of North Kivu, urged that these alleged bandits be brought before the military justice system, suggesting the seriousness with which the government was treating the case. "I am also appealing to our justice system. It must be our secular arm. Today, let justice be done," he insisted.

Officials at the time had suggested the Italian diplomat had no clearance to travel in a region where usually, dignitaries are often given additional security escort on prior requests.