A Belgian businessman suspected of wanting to participate in a coup in Congo

A businessman from Lasne, arms supplier and long-time collaborator of the Belgian intelligence services, has been detained since September for his relations with Congolese General John Numbi. The latter is regularly suspected of wanting to foment a coup.

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Journalist at the World Service

Par Colette Braeckman

Published on 03/12/2023 at 17:16
Reading time: 6 mins

DFor six months, Thierry Lakhanisky, domiciled in Lasne and specialist in the sale of large transport helicopters, has been in preventive detention in the Saint-Gilles prison. He was arrested for his alleged involvement in the trade in weapons of war and the transport of military equipment to countries in Africa and the Middle East placed under embargo. But above all, it is the relations between Belgium and the Congo that form the heart of the file: for years, Lakhanisky had maintained contacts with the Congolese general John Numbi, inspector general of the police under the presidency of Joseph Kabila. Lakhanisky’s arrest warrant mentions these links and also mentions, in the conditional, “a project linked to a potential coup d’etat organized by the said general, close to the Kabila camp, in Katanga. »

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