UN Chief Killed in Central Africa

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) -- Attackers shot and killed the local U.N. security chief in the violence-wracked capital of the Central African Republic, the United Nations said Friday.

Local radio reported that assailants shot Jean-Pierre Lhomme as he came to the aid of a fellow U.N. worker Wednesday night. U.N. diplomats in New York confirmed the killing, but said it happened Thursday.

Lhomme was ''shot and killed when he responded to an emergency call at the house of a staff member,'' deputy U.N. spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said.

A U.N. official in the Central African Republic, Amadi Toumani Toure, demanded that the government act immediately to ''find those responsible for this crime and to punish them.''

Lhomme was a French citizen and former French army colonel.

The Central African Republic's state media carried no word on the killing, and there was no comment from the government.

Bangui has seen a surge in looting and other lawlessness since a failed May coup. The government by some accounts handed out guns to ordinary citizens to enlist their help putting down the coup attempt.

The United Nations ended a peacekeeping mission to the former French colony last year. A small U.N. contingent remained behind.

Too bad...So sad...

NOT!

Send them to the Hague right?