Fighting Suspends Removal of Corpses

After clearing dozens of corpses from Brazzaville’s streets, Red Cross officials suspended work in the capital, saying they feared for their lives in the face of escalating fighting. “We’re not prepared to lose a life by going out to look for the dead,” Red Cross spokesman Paolo Dell’Oca said. The Parliament building came under artillery and mortar fire in the most serious violation of a truce in the struggle between President Pascal Lissouba’s troops and militia members loyal to a former president, Gen. Denis Sassou-Nguesso. The shelling, which each side blamed on the other, prevented a meeting that Lissouba had called to discuss whether presidential elections can be held as scheduled next month.