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South African police have arrested the leader of an obscure DR Congo rebel group who claims to be the half-brother of President Joseph Kabila, officials said Sunday.
“The Hawks (special police) arrested him on Friday in Cape Town,” spokesman Paul Ramaloko told AFP without naming him.
A police source earlier confirmed the suspect is Etienne Kabila, head of the Union of Nationalists for the Renewal of the DR Congo (UNR) accused of plotting to topple the government.
He claims to be the eldest son of assassinated DRC president Laurent Kabila and half-brother of current President Joseph Kabila.
Kinshasa has denied any relation between the detainee and the president, who took power after his father’s murder in 2001.
Prosecutors told a court last week that Etienne Kabila was behind a plot to overthrow the government.
Police infiltrated the UNR, which was allegedly seeking weapons and military training in northern South Africa, and arrested 19 of them in a raid last Tuesday.
One of the members claims US citizenship.
Etienne Kabila, who has reportedly been living in exile in South Africa, is due in court by Tuesday.