Kabila Uprising
In 1996 the war in neighboring Rwanda spilled over into what was
then called Zaire as Hutu militia forces fled Rwanda following the
ascention of a Tutsi government. The militias used Hutu refugee camps
in Zaire to launch attacks against Rwanda. In October of the same year
Rwandan troops along with the Alliance des Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation du Congo-Zaire
(AFDL), an armed coalition led by Laurent-Desire Kabila. Their goal was
to oust Zaire's long-time leader Mobutu Sese Seko with the support of
Rwanda and Uganda. Rwanada and Uganda were more than happy to give
support to Kabila and plan for a future without Mobutu since Mobutu had
long been tacitly allowing rebel camps to establish themselves in Zaire
to harass neighboring countries. The Rwandans were especially
interested in ousting Mobutu since Hutu refugees and militias in Zaire
were now going after Zaire's Tutsi community. Thus an alliance with
Kabila, a long time rebel against Mobutu, became a sort of marriage of
convinience. After failed peace talks between Mobutu and Kabila and
with opostion troops surrounding Kinshasain May 1997, Mobutu fled the
country and Kabila's troops entered Kinshasa with little resistence and
Kabila declared himself president, also renaming the country to the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Kabila was received as a hero by
many who hoped he would end the poverty and corruption that had defined
Mobutu's regime.
