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...
Vol 39 No 20 | CONGO-KINSHASA Entrenched and overstretched 9th October 1998 The neighbours say they want peace but more are joining the fray Though the war has broadened out, geographically and especially in the number of governments involved, the rainy season has brought a lull in hostilities; both the government and...
Vol 39 No 18 | CONGO-KINSHASA Holding up the peace 11th September 1998 Both the government and rebels grow weaker as the neighbours press for a ceasefire Congo’s worried neighbours want peace badly, but may have botched the chance of it at Victoria Falls on 7 September. The first idea was that President Laurent Kabila’s...
Vol 39 No 17 | CONGO-KINSHASA Turning the tables 28th August 1998 The simmering rebellion against Kabila is dividing Eastern and Southern Africa After less than a month of fighting, Congo’s rebellion has sawn the country in two. The rebels announcing their opposition to President Laurent-Désiré Kabila’s ‘despotism’ and ‘nepotism’ quickly...
Vol 39 No 17 | CONGO-KINSHASA Yesterday's rebels, today's rebels 28th August 1998 The soldiers and the politicians