Military Releases Opposition Leader

Congo’s main opposition leader, Etienne Tshisekedi, was released from military custody early today after a 10-hour detention in which he said police ordered him to abandon politics. “These methods hark back to the era of [former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko’s] police,” Tshisekedi told about 300 supporters who had gathered outside his home in Kinshasa, the capital. Tshisekedi was seized by soldiers Thursday, hours after giving a political speech. A police commander had said the opposition leader was being taken to see President Laurent Kabila.