Congo Militia Kidnaps US Journalist

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- A Congolese rights group says rebels in the country's eastern Ituri province have kidnapped an American journalist along with 11 Congolese security guards after attacking a security station near a local nature reserve.

The Center for Studies of Peace and Defense of Human Rights said Saturday the Mai-Mai SIMBA militia staged the attacks Friday in Bapela, about 40 kilometers south of Mambasa. He said two British citizens and five other guards with the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation managed to escape to the Okapis Wildlife Reserve base.

No details about the journalist were immediately available. Kidnappings for ransom are common in eastern Congo.

The group called on the military to find those abducted.

It said an attack Saturday by the Mai-Mai in the North Kivu province killed two soldiers.

(KA)