Zambian court orders arrest of former intelligence chief

A Lusaka magistrate court Tuesday ordered the arrest of Zambia's former intelligence Chief Xavier Chungu as he has not appeared for the court sessions for the last two consecutive days.

As a former Security Intelligence Service chief, Chungu is a key suspect in cases of plunder of the country's resources. He is jointly charged with former republican president Frederick Chilubaand six other key government officials in several cases of corruptpractices involving over 800, 000 US dollars and is currently on a1, 000 US dollars bail.

" I am issuing a bench warrant against Chungu and his two sureties for the accused failure to appear before court," Principal Resident Magistrate Jones Chinyama said.

Chungu becomes the second person facing corrupt charges to disappear after former Zambia's envoy to the United States Attan Shansonga fled the country last month.

President Levy Mwanawasa, soon after assuming power, set up theTask Force on Corruption to investigate cases of plunder during his predecessor's reign.

Several key government officials have also been arrested in this regard and are being tried.

Source: Xinhua