Bang Bang Bang by Stella Feehily Page B

Lumumba murdered, reportedly with US and Belgian complicity.
    1961 August – UN troops begin disarming Katangese soldiers.
    1963 – Tshombe agrees to end Katanga’s secession.
    1964 – President Kasavubu appoints Tshombe prime minister.
    Mobutu Years
    1965 – Kasavubu and Tshombe ousted in a coup led by Joseph Mobutu.
    1971 – Joseph Mobutu renames the country Zaire and himself Mobutu Sese Seko; also Katanga becomes Shaba and the river Congo becomes the river Zaire.
    1973 – 74 – Mobutu nationalises many foreign-owned firms and forces European investors out of the country.
    1977 – Mobutu invites foreign investors back, without much success; French, Belgian and Moroccan troops help repulse attack on Katanga by Angolan-based rebels.
    1989 – Zaire defaults on loans from Belgium, resulting in a cancellation of development programmes and increased deterioration of the economy.
    1990 – Mobutu agrees to end the ban on multiparty politics and appoints a transitional government, but retains substantial powers.
    1991 – Following riots in Kinshasa by unpaid soldiers, Mobutu agrees to a coalition government with opposition leaders, but retains control of the security apparatus and important ministries.
    1993 – Rival pro- and anti-Mobutu governments created.
    1994 – Mobutu agrees to the appointment of Kengo Wa Dondo, an advocate of austerity and free-market reforms, as prime minister.
    1996-97 – Tutsi rebels capture much of eastern Zaire while Mobutu is abroad for medical treatment.
    Aftermath of Mobutu
    1997 May – Tutsi and other anti-Mobutu rebels, aided principally by Rwanda, capture the capital, Kinshasa; Zaire is renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo; Laurent-Desire Kabila installed as president.
    1998 August – Rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda rise up against Kabila and advance on Kinshasa. Zimbabwe, Namibia send troops to repel them. Angolan troops also side with Kabila. The rebels take control of much of the east of DR Congo.
    1999 – Rifts emerge between Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC) rebels supported by Uganda and Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) rebels backed by Rwanda.
    Lusaka Peace Accord Signed
    1999 July – The six African countries involved in the war sign a ceasefire accord in Lusaka. The following month the MLC and RCD rebel groups sign the accord.
    2000 – UN Security Council authorises a 5,500-strong UN force to monitor the ceasefire but fighting continues between rebels and government forces, and between Rwandan and Ugandan forces.
    2001 January – President Laurent Kabila is shot dead by a bodyguard. Joseph Kabila succeeds his father.
    2001 February – Kabila meets Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Washington. Rwanda, Uganda and the rebels agree to a UN pull-out plan. Uganda, Rwanda begin pulling troops back from the frontline.
    2001 May – US refugee agency says the war has killed 2.5 million people, directly or indirectly, since August 1998. Later, a UN panel says the warring parties are deliberatelydeliberately prolonging the conflict to plunder gold, diamonds, timber and coltan, used in the making of mobile phones.
    2002 January – Eruption of Mount Nyiragongo devastates much of the city of Goma.
    Search for Peace
    2002 April – Peace talks in South Africa: Kinshasa signs a power-sharing deal with Ugandan-backed rebels, under which the MLC leader would be premier. Rwandan-backed RCD rebels reject the deal.
    2002 July – Presidents of DR Congo and Rwanda sign a peace deal under which Rwanda will withdraw troops from the east and DR Congo will disarm and arrest Rwandan Hutu gunmen blamed for the killing of the Tutsi minority in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
    2002 September – Presidents of DR Congo and Uganda sign peace accord under which Ugandan troops will leave DR Congo.
    2002 September/October – Uganda, Rwanda say they have withdrawn most of their forces from the east. UN-sponsored