The head of Democratic Republic of Congo's Atomic Energy Commission has been suspended and is being questioned amid unclear circumstances, officials said Thursday, according to dpa. The minister of scientific research suspended Fortunat Lumu, according to Godefroid Mayobo, minister in the prime ministers office and government spokesman. Lumu is being questioned by authorities about his involvement in the signing of a fraudulent deal allowing a private company to exploit the central African country's uranium resources, Mayobo said. He did not specify which company he was referring to. Lumu is under subpoena and cannot leave the capital Kinshasa. District attorney in Kinshasa, Gregoir Munoko, confirmed Lumu was under examination, but said it was in connection with missing uranium from Congo's nuclear research reactor. Congo's Shinkolobwe mine in the mineral-rich Katanga Province supplied uranium for the nuclear bombs which were dropped on Japan towards the end of World War II. A new government started work in the war-torn country and is trying to rebuild after five years of war, which killed four million people.
