BRUSSELS, Feb 5: Belgium expressed “sincere regrets” on Tuesday for the role it played in the Cold War assassination of charismatic nationalist Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“The government feels it should extend to the family of Patrice Lumumba... and to the Congolese people its profound and sincere regrets and its apologies for the pain inflicted upon them,” Foreign Minister Louis Michel said.

“Some members of the government, and some Belgian actors at the time, bear an irrefutable part of the responsibility for the events that led to Patrice Lumumba’s death,” Michel told parliament.

Michel said Belgium — the former colonial power in the DRC — had demonstrated “apathy” and “cold indifference” towards Lumumba, who was killed in mysterious circumstances 41 years ago.

“The general attitude of neutrality and apathy for the fate of Patrice Lumumba could be qualified as a serious lack of good management and respect for the rule of law,” he said.

Lumumba, a key figure in Congo’s liberation from 75 years of Belgian rule, was overthrown after just four months in office. The socialist leader was murdered shortly afterward in detention at the age of 35, in a Cold War conspiracy widely blamed on the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

His body was never recovered, but he is remembered as the only leader of his country to have been democratically elected.

A Belgian commission of inquiry that finished its work last November heard testimony that Lumumba’s assassination could not have been carried out without the complicity of Belgian officers backed by the CIA.

The two-year inquiry concluded that Belgium had a moral responsibility for the killing on January 17, 1961, which was depicted at the time as a grim outcome of inter-Congolese rivalries.

Michel also announced the creation by the Belgian government of a 3.75 million euro (3.25 million dollar) fund in Lumumba’s name to support projects to encourage democracy in DRC.

It would be topped up every year with an additional 500,000 euros.

Lumumba’s son, Francois Lumumba, who leads his own opposition party in DRC, and who attended Tuesday’s debate, hailed the Belgian government for what he called its “political courage.”

“This recognition by Belgium is a determining step, a sign of political courage that must be congratulated,” he told reporters.—AFP