Vol 40 No 18 | CONGO-KINSHASA Complex war, ambitious peace 10th September 1999 The Lusaka accord is the best chance yet to tackle the roots of Central Africa's interlocking wars if it wins Western backing In Lusaka, African diplomats and army commanders have produced a fair and far-reaching plan to end the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (AC Vol 40 No...
Vol 40 No 14 | CONGO-KINSHASA Kabila's last throw 9th July 1999 A looming battle for the diamond capital of Mbuji-Mayi makes a ceasefire agreement more attractive to the Kinshasa regime Congo-Kinshasa's combatants are fighting on two fronts. One is the looming battle for Mbuji-Mayi, the diamond capital in Kasaï Occidental, and the other is getting the best terms...
Vol 40 No 10 | CONGO-KINSHASAZIMBABWE Big Wheels 14th May 1999 The news that creditor banks met to discuss the future of well connected Zimbabwean entrepreneur Billy Rautenbach's Hyundai Motor Distributors in Botswana raises questions about his continuing operations...
Vol 40 No 5 | CONGO-KINSHASA Hard talk in Kinshasa 5th May 1999 Kabila's allies are pushing him to make peace with the rebels Looking for a way out of the Congo war, Presidents Robert Mugabe, Sam Nujoma and José Eduardo dos Santos emerged grim-faced from their Kinshasa summit with President Laurent-...
Vol 40 No 8 | CONGO-KINSHASA Fantasy rules 16th April 1999 International and regional peacekeeping efforts fail to impress the belligerents Surrealism is taking over in Congo-Kinshasa. Both President Laurent-Désiré Kabila and his armed opponents insist almost daily that there must be a peaceful resolution of their differences....
Vol 40 No 8 | CONGO-KINSHASA The military imbalance 16th April 1999 In most regions the rebel forces are driving back Laurent Kabila's soldiers and their foreign allies. In southern Congo, though, neither side is advancing: on 12 April...
Vol 40 No 2 | CONGO-KINSHASA Central Africa's schism 22nd January 1999 Kabila is determined to fight on but his foreign backers are looking for an exit ‘Peace in our time’ was the message emerging from the 18 January Windhoek summit on the Congo-Kinshasa war. Yet sadly, President Sam Nujoma’s assurances of a new era...
Vol 39 No 24 | CONGO-KINSHASAAFRICABRITAIN The Pinochet factor 4th December 1998 Congo-Kinshasa President Laurent-Désiré Kabila was the first African leader to feel the effects of Britain's landmark ruling that Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet no longer enjoyed...
Vol 39 No 23 | CONGO-KINSHASA The wages of war 20th November 1998 As the regional combatants prepare for a showdown in the diamond capital of Mbuji Mayi, President Kabila has arranged some pay-offs Four months on, the battle for economic and political power in Congo-Kinshasa has become Africa’s most African war this century. The key protagonists and their armies are all...
Vol 39 No 22 | CONGO-KINSHASA Turning the tide 6th November 1998 The rebels are winning battles and learning from Kabila's mistakes The fall of Kindu on 12 October was a turning-point. Firstly, it demonstrated the rebels’ military superiority. The Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie (RCD) deployed about 9,000...