Kinshasa — The Democratic Republic of Congo will not hold its annual independence day military parade on Friday because of security concerns, an adviser to President Joseph Kabila said on Thursday. The DRC’s independence day parades, held each of the past three years, are usually festive events that mark the end of Belgian colonial rule in 1960 and have been used to show off the Central African country’s latest arms acquisitions. But rising militia violence, a growing humanitarian crisis and a spate of prison breaks have unsettled Africa’s largest copper producer in recent months, adding to an already tense political climate. Kabila refused to step down at the end of his mandate in December, increasing instability and raising fears of a backslide to the civil wars of the turn of the century that killed millions. Kabila’s deputy chief of staff, Jean-Pierre Kambila, said there would be no military parade on June 30 "for security reasons", but did not elaborate. He said Kabila would pr...
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