The theme of ingratitude recurs when Bourgi recalls Zaire's President Mobutu Sese Seko's plea in 1996 when his armed forces were folding before Laurent-Désiré Kabila's rebels and their Ugandan and Rwandan backers for 1 000 men from the Service Action the special forces Foccart had created for France's foreign intelligence service to fly in and neutralise the threat...

' They were brandishing the green and red flags of the former Republic of Zaire ruled by Mobutu Sese Seko until he was ousted in 1997 by Laurent-Désiré Kabila who renamed the country Democratic Republic of Congo (AC Vol 65 No 7 Mobutu-style economic nationalism returns)...

Gertler who made billions from his friendships with presidents Laurent-Désiré Kabila and his son Joseph Kabila was sanctioned after years of UN and US investigations into his operations...

Later the RDF provided most of the military might behind Laurent-Désiré Kabila's 1996-97 insurgency which ousted Zaïre's President Mobutu Sese Seko...

He was deputy head of President Mobutu's intelligence service but when that regime was overthrown by forces under Joseph Kabila's father Laurent-Désiré Kabila in 1997 Beya seamlessly transitioned to become chief of staff to the head of the newly-created ANR...

It is the biggest political scandal in Congo-K since President Mobutu Sese Seko was ousted in 1997 by Kabila's father Laurent-Désiré Kabila...

Selemani is according to researcher Eric Kennes's 2003 Biographical Essay on Laurent-Désiré Kabila the adopted brother of Joseph Kabila...

Selemani and Joseph Kabila were brought up together in Tanzania by one of the wives of Adrien Kanambe a guerrilla comrade of Laurent-Désiré Kabila who led the forces that overthrew Mobutu and preceded Joseph Kabila as president (AC Vol 38 No 7 Kabila's long march)...

A survivor in Congolese politics Beya was deputy head of Mobutu's notorious intelligence service the Division Spéciale Présidentielle (DSP) and smoothly transitioned to become chief of staff of Kazadi Nyembo the head of the newly constituted ANR after President Laurent-Désiré Kabila took power in 1997...

Mwanke was a key ally of President Laurent Kabila Joseph's father and became a mentor to Joseph when his father was assassinated in 2001 managing critical asset sales and deals including with Gertler when he was governor of Katanga province site of most of Congo-K's mineral wealth...

Congo Aconde was set up in 2018 and built monuments in Congo-Kinshasa including one of former President Laurent Kabila (Joseph Kabila's father)...