Hands off Africa urges pope in Kinshasa

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 31 - Pope Francis said on a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo Tuesday that the world should take its hands off Africa, which was not a "mine to be exploited" for its natural and mineral resources.
    Speaking in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, shortly after his arrival there, Francis said 'Hands off the Democratic Republic of Congo, hands off Africa! Stop suffocating Africa: it is not a mine to be exploited or a land to be plundered'.
    "It is tragic that these places, and more generally the African Continent, still suffer various forms of exploitation.
    "After the political one, an equally enslaving 'economic colonialism' has been unleashed.
    "Thus this country, widely plundered, is unable to benefit sufficiently from its immense resources: it has reached the paradox that the fruits of its land make it 'foreign' to its inhabitants. The poison of greed has made its diamonds bloody'".
    (ANSA).