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IRIN
Web Special: The death of Laurent Desire Kabila
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The
late DRC president Laurent Desire Kabila
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I
N T R O D U C T I O N
NAIROBI,
12 February (IRIN) - On 16 January 2001, President Laurent-Desire
Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo, was gunned down by one
of his bodyguards, plunging the war-torn country into a period of
uncertainty and speculation.
It
took the DRC government two days to officially announce Kabila's
death, after first stating that he was wounded but still alive.
Kabila's body was flown back to the DRC from Zimbabwe, where he
was taken after the shooting, and he was buried with full military
honours in Kinshasa on 23 January.
Now, all eyes are on his 31 year-old son Joseph
Kabila who takes on the mantle of president and supreme commander
of the armed forces. In his first address to the nation after his
inauguration on 26 January, the younger Kabila appeared to adopt
a more conciliatory tone than his father. While sticking to the
line that the "aggressors" (Rwanda and Uganda) must be removed from
Congolese territory, he nevertheless pledged to find ways of implementing
the stalled Lusaka peace process, aimed at ending the ongoing conflict
in DRC.
The war pitches Uganda- and Rwanda-backed rebels
based in the east and northwest against DRC troops, supported by
Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. The rebels have rejected Kabila as
president, and stated that his inaugural speech "contained nothing
new". Diplomats are scrambling to harness the slight ray of hope
hanging over DRC politics. Otherwise the country risks descending
into greater chaos than before, which the young, inexperienced leader
will be hard-pressed to contain. Kabila himself has already embarked
on a tour to Europe and the US.
MAIN
IRIN REPORTS
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DRC:
IRIN Focus on the post-Kabila era
With
the all-powerful president and commander-in-chief, Laurent-Desire
Kabila, deceased, power-brokers in the Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC) appear to have gone into a Soviet-style denial
of his death, coupled with intense debate on his successor,
regional analyst Filip Reyntjens told IRIN on Thursday.
[Full
report]
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DRC: Kabila's rule, as his end, marked by confusion
Controversy
surrounded Laurent-Desire Kabila's life. His death has been
no different. The announcement by the former colonial power,
Belgium, later followed by Britain and France, that the DRC
president had been shot dead by one of his bodyguards was
later publicly contradicted by the Kinshasa authorities.
[Full
report]
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