EU imposes sanctions on nine in DR Congo

Brussels (AFP) - The European Union imposed sanctions Monday on nine more officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo amid unrest after President Joseph Kabila's refusal to step aside, a statement said.

The people targeted by asset freezes and travel bans "hold positions of responsibility in the state administration and in the chain of command of the security forces," the EU said.

They join seven people targeted by EU sanctions in December after clashes with protesters against Kabila last year left more than 50 people dead.

Brussels had warned in March that it could impose fresh measures if political and military leaders blocked a deal with the opposition over Kabila's refusal to step down at the end of his term late last year.

"The European Union remains seriously concerned by the deterioration of the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," the EU statement said.

The new sanctions hit the former and current DRC ministers for the interior, the governor of Central Kasai province, the former governor of Haut-Katanga, two senior officers, a militia leader, and the director of the National Intelligence Service, the EU said.

They were listed for "having contributed to acts constituting serious human rights violations in the DRC, by planning, directing or committing them."

The DRC's communications minister and government spokesman was also sanctioned "for the repressive media policy" in the country, it added.

Kabila, who first took office in 2001 after the assassination of his father Laurent, holds onto power despite a transition agreement brokered by the Catholic church which provides for elections later this year.