Vol 37 No 25 | CONGO-KINSHASA Mining for trouble 13th December 1996 As Zaïre's rebels capture mineral-rich lands, mining companies may have to pay up The rebels keep advancing. One of their techniques is to announce the capture of a town before they attack it, causing panic and disorder among their enemies, as...
Vol 37 No 24 | CONGO-KINSHASA A hard homecoming 29th November 1996 Without foreign help Mobutu will not be able to quell the eastern rebellion or rein in his quarrelling generals President Mobutu Sese Seko's heralded return home will do little to turn the tide of defeat and demoralisation. While he retains some authority over the government - he...
Vol 37 No 24 | CONGO-KINSHASA Dissonant voices 29th November 1996 Faced with the Kivu crisis, foreign powers are as divided as Kinshasa's politicians Events in eastern Zaïre continue to outpace the West's diplomatic response. There is relief in several Western capitals that some 600,000 refugees have returned to Rwanda without the...
Vol 37 No 23 | CONGO-KINSHASA Kinshasa questions 15th November 1996 France, the only country to have had a coherent policy on Zaïre, has like everyone else been thrown into confusion by the Kivu rebellion (AC Vol 37 No...
Vol 37 No 20 | CONGO-KINSHASA Follow the Guide 4th October 1996 Whether or not Mobutu returns to the helm, politicians are now fighting to succeed him In Zaïre, facts are scarce and often unreliable. The Prime Minister, Léon Lobitsch Kengo wa Dondo, said last month that President Mobutu Sese Seko would come home...
Vol 37 No 19 | CONGO-KINSHASA Military operation 20th September 1996 Desperately thin and recovering uncertainly from his operation for cancer of the prostate on 22 August, President Mobutu Sese Seko is worrying his friends in Paris and Washington....
Vol 37 No 12 | CONGO-KINSHASA Heart of Anglo 7th June 1996 Zinc mine development at Kipushi, mineral exploration in Shaba, metal processing at Kolwezi; these new ventures in Zaïre show how the world's biggest mining company, the Anglo- American...
Vol 37 No 4 | CONGO-KINSHASA A barbouze returns 16th February 1996 A figure from the past has popped up again in central Africa. Christian Tavernier, a Belgian ex-colonel, commanded the 14th Commando Battalion of the Congolese National Army when...
Vol 37 No 2 | CONGO-KINSHASA Kasaï takes off 19th January 1996 Diamonds and ethnic solidarity explain the prosperity in the opposition leader's province As the grip of central government weakens, the province of Eastern Kasaï gains strength. Its new prosperity, putting it ahead of neighbouring Shaba as the nerve-centre of Zaïre’s...