WHAT: military conflicts between Kabila's government and rebels
WHERE: Democratic Republic of Congo
WHEN: 04/98 - now
Background & Topic Explanation
This topic focuses on the military conflicts between the new president of DR Congo Kabila's government and its rebels, which have lasted over one year until now. Some neighbor countries were also involved in this war to support or against Kabila. Even today the efforts to make a ceasefire between two sides did not reach the aim of permanent peace.
On-topic stories include the reports of war process, the details of the battles, the intervention and involvement of other neighbor countries and the efforts to make a truce from many channels. It deserves to notice that several themes have brief or have no relations with this topic. For instance, U.N. investigated and accused Kabila's government of massacring ethnic Hutus during the overthrow of the former president Mobutu (10/97-10/98). This affair is off-topic unless it mentions rebel movements in Congo. "Kabila's European tour in 11/98" is also a complicate theme, some stories of which focus on Kabila's seeking for support and others on protestations against kabila's ethnic cleansing. In this case, the latter is off topic.
Key Event
07/04/98- Mr. Kabila traveled to the city of Goma in eastern Congo to deal with local rebels (MaiMai group) and their allies allegedly backed by forces from neighboring Uganda.
08/03/98- Open rebellion against the government of President Laurent
Kabila broke out in eastern areas of DR Congo.
Witnesses said the border between Congo and neighboring Rwanda was
closed because of fighting involving the Congolese armed forces and ethnic
Tutsis of the Banyamulenge group, who say they no longer support the government
of President Laurent Kabila. Soldiers in three towns - Goma, Bukavu and
Kindu - are said to be involved in the uprising.
08/04/98- The US has appealed to the neighbors of the Democratic Republic of Congo not to get involved in the rebellion against President Laurent Kabila.
08/06/98- The Democratic Republic of Congo President, Laurent Kabila,
has
threatened to launch a counter-attack against neighboring Rwanda.
He accused Rwanda of being behind the unrest.
08/07/98- A high-level South African delegation has met President Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo for talks about the rebellion in the country.
08/08/98- Laurent Kabila met with leaders of seven African nations at a summit in Zimbabwe. However, the summit failed to agree a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rebels are threatening President Kabila.
08/10/98- The Democratic Republic of Congo accused two of its neighbors -Rwanda and Uganda- of direct military intervention, as fighting intensifies at opposite ends of the country.
08/15/98- Foreign ministers from four African countries were in the
Democratic
Republic of Congo to try to broker a peace deal as a rebellion continued
against President Laurent Kabila.
08/21/98- Reports from the Democratic Republic of Congo say foreign troops (South Africa, Rwanda, Zimbabwe) have begun arriving to support President Laurent Kabila in his battle with rebels.
08/23/98- Southern African Development Community (SADC) urged Congolese rebels and forces loyal to President Kabila to call a truce with the conflict threatening to spread beyond the borders.
08/26/98- Fighting between government forces and rebels trying to overthrow President Kabila has broken out on the outskirts of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
08/26/98- The Namibian President, Sam Nujoma, has confirmed that Namibian troops are in the Democratic Republic of Congo fighting alongside forces loyal to the President, Laurent Kabila.
08/31/98- The Angolan military has declared that it has intervened on the side of President Kabila to protect Angola's national interests.
09/02/98- The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has held talks with President Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo about ways to end the conflict there.
09/12/98- African defence ministers meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa have failed to broker a cease-fire to end the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
09/16/98- Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo accused Sudan of supporting President Kabila's forces in the conflict. Laurent Kabila denied allegations that he brought in Sudanese troops to fight for him.
09/24/98- The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Laurent Kabila, met leaders of other central African countries in Gabon to discuss the seven-week-old conflict in his country.
09/29/98- The Chad government confirmed that it sent a thousand troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo to help Laurent Kabila fight a rebellion.
10/08/98- Laurent Kabila failed to win military assistance from Nigeria following talks in Abuja with the head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
11/08/98- The Roman Catholic church in the Democratic Republic of Congo
urged President Laurent Kabila to begin talks with his opponents with
the aim of ending the conflict in the country.
11/11/98- The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said several thousand ethnic Hutu refugees crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo, and that it feared they were going to fight alongside President Kabila's forces.
12/04/98- A spokesman for rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo
said rebel forces had begun a four-day ceasefire to allow President
Kabila to announce publicly that he was willing to negotiate with them.
11-12/98- President Kabila visited Belgium, Italy and Egypt to seek the diplomatic support in his conflict with rebels.
01/12/99- Forces loyal to President Kabila in the Democratic Republic of Congo bombed the rebel-held, north-eastern city of Kisangani.
02/01/99- The main rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Wamba dia Wamba, called on President Kabila to negotiate an end to the conflict there.
02/22/99- One of the main rebel leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma, formed a new group to oppose President Kabila.
04/15/99- The Burundian vice-president, Frederic Bamvuginyumvira, acknowledged that his country had troops stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo where rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda are fighting an alliance of forces supporting President Kabila.
04/18/99- President Laurent Kabila said he was confident that the latest ceasefire accord would hold because it had the support of Uganda, one of the chief backers of the Congolese rebels.
04/27/99- A Congolese rebel leader vowed to continue fighting the government forces despite the ceasefire between President Laurant Kabila and one of the main backers of the rebels, the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
04/29/99- One of the rebel factions fighting the government of President Laurent Kabila in Congo said it captured two towns in the north-east from government troops.
05/12/99- The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo bombed a rebel stronghold in the east of the country.
05/19/99- The rebels fighting President Kabila in Congo chose a new leader to unite the group in its war against the government.
06/18/99- Rebels had taken full control of President Laurent Kabila's home town in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
07/02/99- Face-to-face talks between Kabila's government and rebels were held in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which aimed at ending war.
07/14/99- A general amnesty is announced for all rebels involved in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
07/16/99- One of the rebel groups involved in fighting in the DR Congo rejects an amnesty offer put forward by President Laurent Kabila.
07/20/99- African foreign and defence ministers met in Lusaka to set
up two bodies to implement and supervise a fragile ceasefire in the 11-month-old
war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Key Words:
Kabila, Democratic Republic of the Congo, rebel, war