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Civil war fears on the Congo
- The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is Africa's second largest country and covers an area equal to about 70 per cent of India's, is on the edge of another civil war.
- defeated candidate in the presidential election, refuses to accept the result announced by the country's independent electoral commission.
- The election, only the second democratic one in the country's history, was dogged by problems and lasted three days instead of one. The transport infrastructure is very poor, and bad weather also prevented United Nations aircraft from carrying ballot papers to remote regions. After the polls closed, the count was delayed by staff shortages; in addition, bags of ballot papers were often so overfilled that they split in transit.
- The 71 million-population remembers only too well the 1998-2003 war, in which over five million died and ethnic tensions were severely exacerbated as other countries and international corporations manipulated warring groups for access to mineral resources and tropical hardwoods.
- In addition to oil and diamonds, the DRC has 70 per cent of the world's coltan, an essential ore for electronic goods.
- If civil war breaks out again, it is unlikely that the international community will be able to do anything significant.
