03/07/2006
On Friday I was going up Whitehall (from the Royal United Services Institute to the House of Lords, since you ask) and stopped to watch and listen to that dayâs demonstration opposite Downing Street.
People in colourful African clothes, a few trying to look sinister in the fatigues most African countriesâ militias wear and lots of drumbeat would stop anyone dead on a hot Friday afternoon in Whitehall. But there were other reasons. The hand-painted signs were protesting against developments in DR Congo. Why here, I thought.
The answer was that apart from the odd sign criticizing Joseph Kabila, most were directed at the EU and the UN with slogans like: âEU â UN army out of DR Congoâ, Koffi Annan â DR Congo is not for saleâ, âStop the EU-backed lying electionsâ, â70% Congolese cannot vote â EU outâ and the one that appealed to me best of all: âDown with the Belgian slavery supporter Louis Michelâ.
Commissioner Michel is in charge of Development and Humanitarian Aid. Given the countryâs history, Belgium may not have been the most sensible choice to provide the commissar to fill that position.
COMMENT THREAD