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Article: Africa's "Scramble for Africa" Lessons of a Continental War.
- Article from:
- World Policy Journal
- Article date:
- June 22, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 World Policy Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which began in August 1998, is unprecedented--at times involving armies from eight African states. Soldiers from Chad are fighting alongside regiments from Namibia, Angola, and Zimbabwe in defense of President Laurent Kabila. And on offense, the two main rebel groups, the Congolese Assembly for Democracy (which is known by the acronym RCD) and the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), are backed by troops from Uganda and Rwanda. As Susan E. Rice, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, warned the House International Relations Committee in September 1998, "The fighting threatens regional stability, ...