press tv news and brief army says is targeted an american ship in the gulf of aiden warning against any new aggression against yemen. over the past week there's been a series. of us lead strikes against the country or washington describes as threats against international shipping in the red sea. iraq's prime minister reiterates his government's opposition to the us forces. muhammad shih al sudani says that american troops must leave as daesh is no longer a threat to iraq. he says ending us military presence is crucial for iraqy security and stability. 17. indians

are killed in latest israeli air strikes on gaza, five lost their lives in a strike on a residential building in hannis and the other 12 were killed in an air raid near ashifa hospital in gaza city. the overall death toll from the gaza geneside tops 24,600. a un rights experts slams israel's measures in gaza as violation of international law describing them as highly illegal and highly unlawful. the on special report. war on occupied palestine says the regime used over 12,000 bombs just in the first two weeks of this aggression and another palestinian journalist has been monitored following israeli strikes on gaza while abu fanuna chief executive officer at alcudstate hospital i mean satellite channel was killed in an israeli strike in central gaza city. nearly 120 journalists have been killed by the regime's occupation forces since october.

on the 17th of january 1961, patrice lumumba, the great fighter for congo's independence, was tortured and then executed. western intelligence agencies, particularly america's cia and britain's mi6 conspired with belgium, the former colonizer of the country and local traiters to overthrow and assassinate lumumba. now this anti-colonial hero was only 35 years old and could have continued to play a very important role in the post independence progress of his country and africa. as the leader of the congolesie national movement, lumumba was chosen by the people to lead an independent congo emerging from. colonial rule under belgium,

unestimated 10 million people were killed during the barbaric colonial rule by these european power over congo. lumumba was determined to use the country's natural resources, which had been subject to decades of colonial and imperialist exploitation for the benefit of the congolese people. this is what angered western powers and they decided to eliminate him. the people of the democratic republic of congo still languish in poverty despite the country's enormous. natural resources, now 63 years after the assassination of lumumba, can this country rise and fulfill his dreams of prosperity for the nation and africa as a whole. hello, i'm mubarak kenya and this is africa today. this week we are focusing on the legacy of patrice lumumba, the congoese independence hero who was assassinated 63 years ago an elaborate plot led by the notorious us spy agency, the cia and britain's mi6. remembering patris

lomumba, congelase leader patrice lumba was assassinated six decades ago, but his name remains synonymous with africa's struggle against imperialism, his speech during the proclamation of congo's independence in june 1960, angured western powers and this led to his eventual assassination. to discuss the legacy of patrice lumumba, we have contacted kambalay musavuli, a political analyst and human rights activist, he's also the spokesperson for the friends of the congo. thanks for joining us today, sir. thank you for having me. we also joined by gidon balaike, the secretary general of african coalition for development. thank you for your time sir today. thank you, it's such an honor to be part of this conversation. now, the us central. intelligence agency cia and

britain's mi6 were the main conspirators with belgium in the assassination of patrice lumumba. so let's start off with mr. masavuli. why did these uh western imperialist colonial powers decide to sponsor this heinous crime? one of the reasons, there are many reasons, but one of the uh reasons that was assassinated is because he wanted the resources of the congo to benefit the congodes people. he fought for the independence of the congo, it was clear that when congo uh got his independence, that the resources of the land will benefit the congolese, building infrastructure and providing opportunities to congoles, that did not sit well, with dwight hanover, the president of the united states at the time. this is at the height of the cold war. congo has cobalt, the united states needs kobalds for its military uh industry, and as many will remember, dwight isnoer did have a speech on january 17, 1961, talking about the

military industrial complex, but what people would not know, even though he made the speech on january 17, 1961, that day he made a speech he see. operatives in the drc killed, were participating in the killing of the first democratically elected leader of the congo patrice lumumba. lumumba's assassination came less than seven months after independence. no doubt, these assassination impacted negatively on the ideas of national economic unity, economic independence and pan-african solidarity that lumumba had championed. roran lumumba, the son of lumumba says his dad sacrificed his life for congo. the congose youth should maintain the struggle and fight for our values, like my late dad. he chose sacrifice for the country and africa as a whole. he once said, if the congo requires a martter, then i will be the first one. now let's bring

in gideon baleke. can we say that the this cia crime shattered the hopes of millions of congolese for freedom and material prosperity? yes, absolutely, the shadow. of lumumba still uh to you know continue to be alive today, even in the congoese politics, there was a huge inheritance of that assassination that can be seen today in the congoese politics, as you know you move lumumba was an revolutionary leader, nationalistic leader, but he was not you know a communist, as if most of the western um stakeholders wanted to... taggin rumba was just a revolutionary person who wanted something greater for for the congo. he was visionary person because he saw the congo of the future and that was seen as a danger for um people who had interest in the congo and that's why they ended up assassinating him

because they didn't want to have a someone who has a critical thinking, someone who think about his people, someone who is a real patriot, they wanted people that could be easily. manipulated and that's why the cia in collaboration with belgium they assassinated patrice lumba, but unfortunately the united states government that controls the cia has never been held accountable up to date, we need the reparation because they have legacy in what is happening currently in the congo. lumba's old friend and army chief of general staff mobuto staged his first coup and dism. both the president and the prime minister on september 14, 1960. the lesson here is that the destruction and plundering of african after independence cannot be possible without the collaboration of locals. such collaboration continues to impact negatively

on africa. congolese people are clear about the imperialist. gongoles people are clear about people who want to subject them to... man conditions, they've always resisted any oppression, unfortunately the forces, the external forces have been able to affect the situation in the congo, specifically for what you said about mobutu, joseph mobutu, who was in aid to patrice lumba during the independence movement and then became the head of the combolise army, through the cia, they were able to coach mobutu to be able to take the reign of government. in the orc his first school where he dismissed both the president and the prime minister to have the military take control was actually guided by the cia, so yes there are local uh locals who are cooperating, they are a very small

minority, they are back, they are finance and they are provided the the necessary support to be able to hold millions of people hostages and this model still unfortunately exist till today where uh africans are still fighting to read themselves on neocolonial agents of the west and they will be successful as we continue in this struggle uh to defeat. them so that the people can have a say in the decision making process. in june 2022, the belgian government return the remains of patrice lumumba to his family unpported to apologize for his mother. his son commented on this move. i can't say it's joyous, but it's positive for us, it's positive that we can finally bury one of ours. now mr. baleke, was the return of remains and all apology issued by belgium enough to attone for these horrindous crimes?

they returned the thief of patrice, but that was symbolic, you remember he was burned out in asidic water and killed, assassinated, so the only remaining part was his um was his teeth, and his family has been reclaiming uh that for years so that they call you know bury symbolically uh a party of the body for the uh for the... their father patrice lumber so uh for the uh family perspective that was um that was something great and uh we had to we had to demand for that and we need as well reparation overall uh politically because uh the role belgium played in the assassination of patrice lumber continues to have repercutions up to date in the congose political uh sphere and uh you know they misled the congo, like they took the congo out of a trajectory of progress and put it in

a trajectory of um corruption and manipulation and neocolonialism. belgium's king flip visited the democratic republic of congo early june 2022 and as expected he flatly refused to apologize for his country's brutal and inhumane crime. in the congo, king flip only offered what he termed as his deepest regrets for his nation's colonial era genocide and extermination of millions of congolese people, including women and children. face au peuple congolais et à ceux qui aujourd'hui encore en souffrent. je désire réaffirmer mes plus profonds regrets

pour ces blessures du passé. king philippe stopped short of apologizing for colonial atrocities angering the people of congo and africans across the world. now, what's your take on this statement by the king? of course, we it's okay to say apologiy, but congo needs more than apology. congo needs reparation. so from king leople losing. million people to the colonial rule where uh congolase had to fight world war one and world war two on behalf of belgium where and they did not even get paid for that operations right that's still a contention from the copper extracted from our land from the uranium taken in the congo and the belgian hands taken in the congo given to the americans for uh the so-called manatan project and this uranium went to bomb hiroshimain nagazaki in japan all that operation and to even colonizer and said that congolase cannot be independent. congo needs more than apology. congo needs reparation and

what does that mean? it means that any corporations from back then to now, we know the names that still exist, must provide to the congolaise, the union minier diyokatanga, which still exists today under a different name in belgium, made billions of dollars back then and continue to make billions today and... states right, that's the called reparations, they need to be financial, materials and also anything they have ever taken from the congo must return to the drc. congo does not need only apology, congo needs reparation. thank you for that, mr. mosavoli, let's take a short break before we continue with our show on patrice lumumba, the congoese independence hero who was brutally assassinated by western colonial powers.

remembering patress lomumba. welcome back and you're watching africa today. our discussion is on the cia led assassination of kangolese. independence hero patrice lumumba. now, during the cold war era, the united states, which claims to advocate for democracy supported the most brutal african dictators, for instance, after the assassination of patrice lumumba, the cia installed mobutu seeseseko as the president who ruled congo with iron free and even changed the name of the country to zire. here is one of mobut's visits to washington where he met the then us president ronald reagan. and i am pleased to have been able to meet again with president mabut who's been a

faithful friend to the united states for some 20 years. the president and i took this opportunity. and we found a large area of agreement on the major points. now mr. baleke, what's your opinion on us double standards on democracy? where it assassinates democratically elected president or leader like lumumba and props up a dictator like mobut. that's you, that's one of the greatest example in the 20th century of the america. and foreign policy cynicism and neocolonialism, imperialism. um, we had a different context during those days with the cold war, so it was an hegemonic war that was being played with african leaders. the progressive forces in the democratic republic of congo are struggling to ensure that the

masses control and determine the affairs of the congo. patrick lumumba gave his life so that the sons and daughters of the congo would ultimately take ownership of the country's wealth for their benefit and for the benefit of africa overall a congole citizen here speaks on the anti-colonial legacy of patrice lamumba and how current leaders have betrayed this legacy yeah the uh lift us a great legacy that is working for the people and avoid. influence from from western countries, but we see since uh the second republic, our country is still being dominated by foreign powers. now, despite efforts by progressive forces in the democratic republic of congo to eliminate neocolonial influence over the past few

years, we have seen a marked increase of american special forces in eastern drc. now mr. what are these us troops doing in these mineral rich region that continue to see deadly rebels roaming across with impunity? in the context of the conflict in the congo today and with the congose government, congolese military trying to have regain sovereignty over the land, they've had uh foreign militaries training, not just the united states by different ones, but specifically for your question in terms of the united states, they've been engaged in military training, particularly in the northeast part of the congo, where they've done training uh for made flag, beyond even the united states, right now israel has been training uh the congoese uh forces that we call the republican guards right, whereby in october 2003 he was reported that over 200

idf forces who are training the kongolese army. had to leave the drc to go kill palestinians pretty much, they left the congo to go fight in gaza, they are training soldiers who are also committing human rights abuse. the united nations report that was just released this december documented how the republican guard trained by the idf killed civilians, put uh in numbers up over 100, took their bodies and went to hide the bodies. "this is documented in the un report and no consequences uh for the soldiers who committed these crimes, there have been a few been arrested, but no fundamental consequence in the chain of command that order uh for the killing of the civilians and no accountability for the israeli soldiers who train uh these troops, so the military training unfortunately is only reinforcing

oppressive regimes in the congo who uh when these soldiers are trained they are going to also h'. the congolaise population what demanding the end of the conflict, they want peace, they want stability, and after two decades of war, we do not need more military press and military training, what we need is accountability for crimes taking place and holding us alliesraeli allies on the african continent accountable, according to diplomatic messages between brussels and its former colony lu mumba, the new born republic's first prime minister was a man to be eliminated. so there is no shadow of doubt that these assassins are well known, the people of congo believe that justice will one day be served and those who assassinated. will pay for their heinous crime, the biggest form of justice we could give to patr lumumba as congolose revolutionary is you know to um

perpetuate his legacy and they kill lumumba but they didn't kill the idea of lumumba he was killed but his idea has never been killed and that's the greatest thing you know you could see lumumba is a patriotic figure not only in the congo but all africa, so is still a symbol up to date of resistance against neocolonialism, and that's the greatest legacy, but i think the greatest achievement and the greatest gift we could give to patrice lumumba is to liberate the congo from all the hashes of imperialism, to liberate the congo from all corruption and incompetent leaders that are manipulated from western or eastern angles, is to liberate the congo from all the bad things that are happening in the country and... make it a free, a really independent country, prosperous country that definitely work for the interest of all congole people who deserve to live into

dignity, that's the best way to honor the memory of patrice last month, the people of the democratic republic of congo voted in a general election where the incumbants won, felix tady was reelected as drc's president for second term, but the... opposition contested these results due to numerous violations in the electoral process. this country has great potential and vast mineral and natural resources valued as an estimated 24 trillion dollars. the democratic republic of congo has been facing political instability and armed violence since 1996 with an estimated 6 million people killed since the conflict began. western giants continue to profit from kongo's conflict minerals while locals suffer a congole civilian affected by conflict in the rc speaks here on his suffering. we have

suffered lot, hunger, disease, death, women are raped, and the least goes on. we don't want this life of begging. at home, we had fields, cattle, and we lived very well. the most important thing is to stop the war so that we can return home. now the dream of patrice lumumba was that congo's immense natural resources should bring prosperity and peace for the congoese. this dream is yet to be achieved. mr. musavule, you have the last word today. now is the current government of the drc moving towards lumumba's dream? you clearly stand it. congo is the largest african country, the second largest african country by size after algeria and by. population is the fourth largest african country by population right and has so much wealth right from is fauna and flora from is

resources on the ground, the minerals, the gold, the cold, the team, the cobalt, this mineral use in all these tesla vehicles, congo is the number one producer of cobalt in the world, so you can drive an electric vehicle without cobald in it, it's virtually impossible, but this wealth is only benefit. the elite, the congoese people are still in the pursuit of their ideals ofuma. this is why since 2006, as you watch all the presidential elections, you still see congoles protesting, organizing, saying that they won't leaders who represent the will, so the congoese people have not given up on the ideas of urumumba, they are fighting, but what is important in their context of fighting to liberate the country? well, as our guest say the people of congo. are still struggling to ensure that the aspirations of patrice lumumba are attained. i like to thank our guests kambale, most ofly and gidon baleke for their incisive analysis today.

my name is george zongolan talaja, professor of african studies at university of north carolina at chapo hill. i was asked by the ohio university press to write the book and patisce lumba in a series of book. and great african leaders. patrice lumumba was young man who became the first prime minister of the congo at his independence. on june 30,

1960, his main goal as a national leader was to utilize the natural resources of the congo, my country to improve the living conditions of our people, the powers that be outside of africa, namely in the united states and western europe wanted to undermine democracy. in the congo, in order to continue the control the head over our resources, since they they saw lumumba as an obstacle to their own goals, they had to get rid of him.

and that's it for this week's edition of africa today, it's always great having you watch the show, drop us a line through our social media handle appearing on the screen and you can watch this episode on all our previous shows on our website pressv.ir thanks lot for watching and goodbye for now. enduring and surviving the genocide of the century happening in the largest open air concentration camp on earth in gaza does not

stop the afflicted people. palestine from remembering past massacers committed by the genocidal zinist regime. day of gaza, which was named by the islamic republic of iran on january 19, 2009, right after a 22 day of aggression against the gaza strip, where 1500 people rose marters as a direct result of zionist belligerance. today we commemorate day of gaza as 70% of the strip is carpet bombed with us-made top notch laser guided death projectiles that has taken the lives of more than 20. 23,00 civilians in less than 100 days of genocide. day of gaza this week on the mid east stream. 10 years of chaos and war in syria, the ruins left in syria. who

benefits from the continuation of this war? what is the view of the west, particularly america towards war in syria and the support of many countries for creating chaos in syria? why syria, a different narrative? one you're watching, i'm your host.

rest of your headlines, over dozen palestinians are killed in new israeli attacks on gaza where the death tool has already passed 24,600. mexico and chile refer israel's war on gaza. to the icc over escalating violence against palestinian civilians. yemany army says is targeted an american ship in the gulf of aiden with appropriate enable missiles and response to us lead air strikes on the country.