Alleged arms dealer detained in the DRC

Mystery surrounds the arrest in the DRC of alleged arms dealer Alexander Zingman who has close ties to Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko. Zingman was arrested in Lubumbashi on Wednesday after meeting with former President Joseph Kabila. The Daily Maverick reports that Zingman has previously been accused of arranging arms deals in Zambia and Zimbabwe which he has denied. Zingman threatened to sue the investigative Zambian newspaper Digger News in 2020 after it published pictures of him meeting at the Zambian Embassy in Moscow with President Edgar Lungu and the top brass of the Zambian military including Defence Permanent Secretary Sturdy Mwale, and Zambia Air Force Commander Lieutenant-General David Muma, in 2016. A source close to the administration of DRC President Felix Tshisekedi said the governments of the UAE and Zimbabwe were both applying pressure for his release. However, the official said ‘they are holding on to him for now’.

The Biden administration has re-imposed sanctions on Israeli businessman Dan Gertler for alleged corruption in the DRC’s lucrative mining business. A spokesperson for Gertler said ‘there is not a shred of reliable evidence’ to support the allegations. BBC News reports that Gertler held sway over which multinational mining companies were lortunate enough to mine the country's massive reserves of copper, cobalt, tin, gold and diamonds. When the US initially imposed sanctions on the mining magnate in 2017, he hired President Donald Trump's lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, to get them removed. In its final days, the Trump administration granted Gertler a so-called sanctions licence, which gave him access to his frozen funds and the international banking system for a year. However, US Congress lawmakers and former State Department officials, persuaded the new administration withdrew the licence. ‘The licence previously granted to Mr Gertler is inconsistent with America's strong foreign policy interests in combatting corruption around the world,’ said State Department spokesperson Ned Price, adding that Gertler had ‘engaged in extensive corruption’.