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Kidnapped US journalist in DR Congo found safe

Bunia : A US journalist kidnapped last week by a militia group in DR Congo was found safeearly Sunday, officials said, as another source said five people had been killed in clashes.

Lisa Dupuy and 11 wardens working for the Okapi Wildlife Reserve (RFO) -- a vast conservation park in northeastern DR Congo -- were abducted on Friday by the Mai-Mai Simba militia group.

"The American journalist .. was found safe and sound at around 3 am on Sunday" by government troops, Pacifique Keta, vice governor of Ituri province, told AFP.

"The outcome of the military operation has not yet been established, because the army is still at work," Keta said.

In Washington, a US State Department official said: "We are aware of reports that the US citizen reported kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been found safe.

"The US Department of State has no higher priority than the protection of US citizens overseas," the official added, citing privacy concerns in giving no further comment.

A senior official with the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), speaking on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the journalist was safe.

"However, four of our wardens and a civilian who was working as a tracker were killed in clashes," the official said.

"The army also killed bandits, but I don't know how many."

A former Belgian colony, the DR Congo is a vast country rich in minerals and timber but wracked by decades of war and poverty.

The east of the country is especially troubled. It has been gripped by more than 20 years of armed conflict among domestic and foreign groups, fuelled by struggle for control of lucrative resources as well as ethnic and property disputes.

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