Congo (formerly Zaire) (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
June 5, 2001 |
| Report Number |
IB96037 |
| Authors |
Raymond W. Copson, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
This report discusses the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire, which is a vast-resource-rich country of 48 million people. Events there affect much of sub-Saharan Africa. In August 1998, Congo was plunged into its second civil war in 2 years. A peace accord was concluded in Lusaka, Zambia, in July and August 1999, and the U.N. Security Council later agreed to send a 5,500-member observer force, MONUC, to assist in the peace process. Fewer than 250 observers have gone to Congo, due to the failure of the parties to the Lusaka accord to fully implement its terms. The assassination of President Laurent Kabila on January 16, 2001, has raised new doubts about the prospects for peace in Congo.
