"First we will take Kinshasa, then we will sort out Congo's political future," promised RCD military commander Jean-Pierre Ondekane after these rebels took up arms against the Kabila regime in August 1998. A year later, Congo's political future was still being sorted out, mostly because of Ondekane's inability to take even the first task at hand-capturing Kinshasa. At first, the RCD seemed it would take the capital in a matter of weeks. Kabila was caught with his pants down. Rwanda and Uganda were providing the RCD with logistical support, weapons and even the soldiers to go along with them. It was a good bitch-slap. Kabila fell to his knees, but they were padded with Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe, turning Congo's civil war into a good ole'-fashioned African bush rumble. Although, RCD's got about half the country in its mitts, these guys may not be grabbing much more. The guerrillas have been pummeled by defections and splinter groups, and now operate basically as two different factions. The rebs' original leader, a guy whose name sounds like an Annette Funicello movie-Ernest Wamba-dia-Wamba-was replaced by Emile Llunga. Wamba formed his own RCD wing and made buddies with Uganda (sort of). Llunga, on the other hand, enjoys the support of Rwanda. Toss in the MLC (see below) and Congo becomes a boiling pot of headhunters' stew. Don't ask us to figure it all out. It's simply Africa solving African problems with African solutions.
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