PRESS RELEASE

Brussels, 13 August 1998

New ICG report on the crisis in Kivu released today

As tensions escalate in the province of North Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the International Crisis Group today releases a report on the causes of the current crisis and the implications for the future stability of Central Africa.

The report, entitled North Kivu: Into the Quagmire?, has been prepared by ICG analysts based in North and South Kivu. It is intended to provide international policy-makers with a sharp, timely analysis of developments on the ground and practical ideas on how to stop the crisis descending into a prolonged and bloody conflict.

Hardly 14 months after the fall of Mobutu, a new armed movement announced the beginning of a further "war of liberation" on 2 August 1998, this time directed against the regime of Laurent D�sir� Kabila. The conflict has pitted a diverse coalition of anti-Kabila forces against the Kinshasa regime and its allies. Fighting has already spilled over into other regions of the DRC and neighbouring countries and threatens to trigger a larger-scale regional war.

The ICG report looks at the context to the current crisis, including anger among much of the local population in Kivu arising from ethnic discrimination practised by the government in Kinshasa, the deep economic crisis in the region and the deteriorating state of key infrastructure across the DRC. It examines the emergence of insurgent groups in North and South Kivu opposed to the regimes in Rwanda and Uganda and the presence of Rwandan and Ugandan government forces inside North Kivu.

The report contains a series of recommendations designed to head off a looming humanitarian disaster in the region and clear the way for a negotiated settlement to the conflict.

Read the full report, North Kivu: Into the Quagmire?.

For further information: Thierry Coppens or Alain Destexhe at ICG, Tel + 32 2 502 90 38.here

The International Crisis Group is a private, multinational organisation created to reinforce the capacity and resolve of the international community to prevent crises arising from human causes. Members of the ICG board include former heads of state and government, foreign ministers, MPs and leading figures in business and the media. ICG is chaired by the former US Senate majority leader, George Mitchell.

[Central Africa Menu] - [Press Office] - [TOP]