The Democratic Republic of Congo is a large country in Africa. It has borders with nine other countries-Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia-all of which have been drawn into its conflicts. An estimated 5.5 million people died in conflicts in the Congo between 1998 and 2004. Irish Times: Crisis in the Congo (November 4, 2008)

In 2003 the Democratic Republic of Congo emerged from what has been called “Africa’s first world war”. This latest major conflict in DR Congo was sparked when Joseph Kabila moved to purge Rwandans from government. Rebel groups, including former Rwandan-backed Tutsi and Hutu militias continued to fight for land and resources. Violence halted in 2003 after three-month French-led emergency mission under EU authority, after the UN failed to contain clashes.International Crisis Group: DR Cong In November 2008, following the collapse of an agreement reached earlier this year and the renewed outbreak of fighting around the eastern town of Goma, there is a real danger that the regional wars in DR Congo will resume. Already a quarter of a million people have been displaced from their homes. Many of those responsible the wars in the late 1990s fled to the eastern Congolese province of Kivu, where their presence has been contested by Gen Laurent Nkunda, a regional Tutsi leader whose military power is at the center of these latest events. Gen Nkunda is now demanding direct negotiations with DR Congo President, Joseph Kabila. The British and French foreign ministers visited the region at the end of October and are putting pressure on the African Union to mediate the conflict and want to strengthen the existing 17,000 UN force in Congo. Irish Times: Crisis in the Congo (November 4, 2008)