They’re still holding more than 40 locals and other African activists arrested with the envoy.

The US diplomat snagged by DRC authorities is Kevin Sturr who’s driving Washington’s democracy and good governance program in Congo.

The embassy says the security swoop involved an event it partly sponsors involving youth and civil society as part of its broader commitment to encourage a range of voices to be heard.

Official DRC spokesman Lambert Mende says Congo intelligence services believed the event billed as an exchange between African civil society organisations, was instead a project organised by instructors in insurrection.

President Joseph Kabila is facing mounting criticism of his reported intent to trywinning a third mandate at elections due next year.

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A Kinshasa government spokesman says those snared in the security net were posing a threat to stability.

DRC official spokesman Lambert Mende says the diplomat, who’s not been named, was found among a group of people that was believed to be in the process of bringing an attack against state security.

The US embassy in Kinshasa hasn’t commented on its envoy’s detention.

The security sweep was on a news conference in Kinshasa organised in support of a Congolese movement known as Filimbi that aims for greater youth participation in politics.

Mende did not say how many people were detained. Foreign journalists have been released. He didn’t say whether the diplomat, activists or local journalists had been released.

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