FOUR KEY OBSTACLES stand today between Congo and sustainable peace, and till they are addressed, there seems to be little hope for relief for the African nation.

Persisting violence in Congo today is the result of four main factors. First and foremost of them is the historical legacy of Hutu-Tutsi violence in Rwanda. Second is the interference by third parties with aim of gaining access to and controlling Congo's mineral wealth. Third is the use of hatred and violence as a tool by successive governments in Congo to strengthen their own position, and last, but not the least, is the confused, inconsistent and largely indifferent response of international community to the ongoing conflict in Congo.

Extending the historical legacy of Hutu-Tutsi violence

The violence in Congo has continued from the point where this violence was controlled in neighboring Rwanda after the Tutsi genocide in 1994. After the Rwandan Patriotic Front took over government of Rwanda in 1995, almost two million Hutus fled to neighboring Zaire (as Congo was then called), and set up camps in Eastern Zaire from where they used to attack Rwandan Tutsis as well as local Banyamulenge, i.e.. Zairian Tutsis. In 1996, when the government issued a decree for the Banyamulenge to leave the country in the South Kivu province, they erupted in violence against the then President, Mobutu Sese Seko, who was subsequently overthrown in the first Congo War in 1996-97. He was replaced by rebel leader Laurent-Desire Kabila, who used various strategies of mobilizing Tutsi and Hutu factions as well as international factions against each other to strengthen his own grip on power.

In 1998, Banyamulenge again revolted against the government, and the Rwandan and Burundi government controlled by Tutsi majorities backed them up by opening fronts against Congo. Subsequently, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola and later on Chad, Libya and Sudan agreed to help the government of Kabila in this conflict and sent forces to take part in the struggle. In July 1999 the six main warring countries, i.e.. Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Uganda agreed for peace by signing the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, but some fighting factions did not join. In 2000, a force of 5,537 troops was deployed by the UN in the form of the 'United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo' (MONUC), to monitor the cease-fire. In 2001, President Kabila was shot and fatally wounded. He

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