DEATH IN CONGO.

• Author: Onishi, Norimitsu
• Position: Murder of Congo's President Laurent Kabila - Brief Article

Will the murder of Congo's President bring an end to Africa's biggest war? Or an end to Congo?

The assassin aroused no suspicion when he entered the office of Congo's President, Laurent Kabila, at the presidential palace in the capital, Kinshasa, on the afternoon of January 16. Rashidi Kasereka was, after all, a trusted bodyguard, one of several young soldiers the President had recruited years ago in eastern Congo, back when Kabila was still a rebel leader. Kasereka approached the President, who was sitting in his chair. The young bodyguard turned his back to an economic adviser who had been meeting with the President and motioned to Kabila as if he had something to whisper into his ear. Then he took out his revolver and fired once into the President's ear, and at least two more times into his belly.

Dead on the spot, Kabila was wrapped up in the curtains that had been hanging in his office. For two days, the President's close advisers denied that he was dead, as they paved the way for his 29-year-old son, Joseph Kabila, to take over Africa's third largest country. The bodyguard, meanwhile, was shot dead, fueling many theories about why he was silenced and what he would have revealed had he faced a trial for the murder. He was said to be unhappy about his poor living conditions. That fact seems pretty dear, but what remains a mystery is who encouraged him to act on his anger.

The description of the President's assassination--pieced together from official government statements and accounts given by people close to the presidency--was the latest violent chapter in the country that straddles the heart of Africa, occupying a swath as wide as all of Western Europe.

The nation boasts the richest soil in Africa, and possibly on this planet, with diamonds, copper, uranium, gold, oil, timber, and coffee. But because decades of corruption and misrule have weakened its government, the Congo has become a battleground for its smaller neighbors, at least six of which are now on Congolese soil, fighting for security, riches, and a number of other reasons. Often called Africa's "First World War," this conflict has not only caused, directly or indirectly, the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Africans, but it has also raised the possibility that this big country may simply self-destruct.

FAREWELL TO A TYRANT

A few days after he was assassinated, in a ceremony rich with symbolism that evoked the nation's troubled past and present, Kabila was entombed in a...