Emerging Congo Mini-State Raises Fears of Conflict -- New York Times/AP
KITCHANGA, Congo (AP) -- The scarlet-lettered flag flaps atop a lush green hill in an apparent declaration of ownership. Here, a rebel movement turned political party collects taxes, appoints local officials and even polices a border post.
These former rebels are accused of populating the land they have grabbed with thousands of people from neighboring Rwanda to form a mini-Tutsi state. The state-within-a-state is emerging in the shadow of Rwanda's genocide two decades ago, and is raising the specter of new violence in war-ravaged east Congo.
U.N. officials, legislators and traditional chiefs are already forming ''pacification committees'' to try and resolve the land conflicts.
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My Comment: Welcome to the Africa of today .... and the wars that will follow tomorrow. When the colonialists structured today's African states and their boundaries, they were not sensitive to the deep tribal and ethnic animosities that existed within each region. What has kept the peace .... somewhat .... is that many of these countries have brutal dictatorships and/or very active military/intelligence services to keep the peace .... but peace with the gun can only be maintained for so long.
My fear is that many countries in Africa may end up experiencing the Yugoslav model, in which a breakup and subsequent ethnic civil war is the result when the strongman dies and his inheritors cannot keep the peace. The Nigerian Biafra civil war, Darfur, the genocide in Rwanda, ethnic cleansing in Uganda, the almost breakout of civil war in Kenya a few years ago .... this is probably Africa's future if accommodations cannot be met to satisfy the many different tribal/ethnic groups on the continent.
As for the Congo .... this will probably be Africa's first real test.
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