DEATH IN CONGO.

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 mausoleum in front of the old Parliament building, the Palace of the Nation. A statue of a horse-riding Leopold II--the Belgian King who made Congo his own territory in 1885 and set off Europe's scramble for African colonies--once stood at the site, where the country's independence was also granted in a ceremony in 1960. According to historians, as well as accounts by visiting journalists, colonial rule in the Congo ranked close to the top in brutality. Belgian colonialists chopped off people's hands as punishment, and they are believed to have caused the deaths of up to 10 million Congolese.

Life improved after independence, but not much. The Belgians did not like the nationalist leader, Patrice Lumumba. So, with the help of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, they had him assassinated. It was the height of the Cold War, a global struggle for dominance between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the Western powers wanted a leader who would remain loyal to them and not gravitate to the Soviets. They found that man in Mobutu Sese Seko, who plundered Congo for three decades, and filled his pockets with an estimated $5 billion, while the Congolese sank deeper and deeper into misery. The U.S. ignored his misrule as long as the Soviets were a threat. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Mobutu became a source of great embarrassment for Washington. It was only a matter of time before the U.S. dropped him.

SAME AS THE OLD BOSS

Mobutu held on to power until Laurent Kabila's rebel band swept across the country, and, backed by neighboring Rwanda and Uganda, toppled the dictator in 1997. Eventually, though, Kabila had a falling-out with his Rwandan and Ugandan supporters, who began the current war against him in August 1998, backing Congolese rebels in the east. Meanwhile, at home, Kabila had become very much like the tyrant he had replaced, squelching all opposition, and imprisoning or killing his real or perceived enemies. Today, Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi are backing the rebels, while Angola, Zimbabwe, and Namibia are supporting the government. And everybody is taking a piece of Congo's riches.

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

Because of the country's size and its central location on the continent, most people believe that real stability --let alone democracy--will not spread across Africa unless it takes root in Congo. No one dares guess what to expect from the reign of the inexperienced Joseph Kabila, now the youngest head of state in the world. Will it be peace or more war? Will he grow into his own man, or will he remain the puppet of his father's advisers and the countries that were his military allies?

At first, the reaction among Kinshasa residents was not encouraging. People did not like the fact that Joseph Kabila was chosen secretly and automatically, as if he were a crown prince. "This is a government we have--it's not a monarchy," says Moise Muamba, an 18-year-old student. "They can't do what they did."

Moise lives in a neighborhood called Gombe (gom-bay), an enclave of foreigners and rich Congolese. Gombe is filled with huge buildings that buzzed with activity two decades ago, but are now deserted and collapsing. Conditions are worse in the rest of the city. Most neighborhoods have no paved roads, and average Congolese rely on crumbling sewers and other infrastructure that the Belgian government left behind four decades ago. Gas stations are often empty, and the only gas available is from street peddlers, who sell gas in jerry cans at double to triple the official rate.

Many Congolese were unhappy with the choice of Joseph Kabila precisely because they felt his father had done little to improve their lives. "There haven't been any positive things, so why should he be mourned?" says Papy Masundi, 22, a trader sitting on a sidewalk and sharing a bottle of beer with four jobless friends.

"If he wanted peace, peace would have come two years ago," adds Francis Basayi, 27, an apprentice taxi driver. "He said he'd come to liberate us. But

after all this time, we didn't see any change. The price of gasoline keeps climbing, and so does the price of food. Before, I was doing a little well, but look at me now." Kabila's death, he believes, might now bring peace in Congo.

Relations with the U.S. have nowhere to go but up. President Clinton had been a big backer of Kabila's original supporters, Rwanda and Uganda, hailing their Presidents as models for a new generation of African leaders. He even praised Kabila himself, until Kabila's fallout with Rwanda and Uganda. When it became clear that Kabila was a dictator hostile to American interests, the U.S. soured on the regime, and the Kabila government held Americans in deep suspicion, accusing them of supporting the country's enemies.

WILL THE SON ALSO RISE?

Whether the new Bush Administration will get along better with his son Joseph remains to be seen. Many Africa experts had predicted that the Bush Administration would not be interested in Africa. But a week after his inauguration, President Bush invited Joseph Kabila to Washington, where he met with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Rwandan President Paul Kagame. The young Kabila is said to have spoken of his interest in peace, but such words had often been heard from his father, too.

Too little is known of Joseph Kabila to say whether he will be able to follow his words with action. He is said to have been born in either Tanzania or eastern Congo, where he learned the Swahili spoken in the region, as well as English. The government has limited his opportunities to address the nation spontaneously, in part because he is reportedly not fluent in the languages of western Congo or French, the nation's official language. Indeed, when he finally spoke on state television, he read his 17-page speech in French, rarely lifting his eyes from the script.

He has no political experience, and little military experience. He learned basic soldiering from Rwandan officials and, after his father became President, he was sent to China for more training. After he had been there only a few months, however, the current war broke out, and Joseph Kabila returned quickly to help his father in the Congo.

He moved up rapidly to the rank of major general, in an astonishing ascent that owed more to his last name than to his skills. Then, in January, because of his name, he was promoted to President.

DEath in Congo

FOCUS: War in a Key African Nation Threatens to Destabilize Countries Accross the Continent

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

To help students understand the ongoing conflict in Congo, specifically why other nations are fighting in the country, and how the recent assassination of President Laurent Kabila may affect the chance for peace in the region.

Discussion Questions:

* What evidence in this article leads you to conclude that peace in Congo will or will not be achieved within the next few years?

* Why do you believe Laurent Kabila's advisers at first concealed the fact that he was dead?

* Should the U.S. take sides in civil wars in countries like Congo?

* New President Joseph Kabila is 29. Is that old enough to lead a nation?

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

Before Reading: Study the photo on page 14. Ask students to guess the ages of the young people. What does the photo suggest about young people in Congo?

Background: Students may ask why war in Congo concerns the U.S. Tell them that more than 20 percent of Congo's exports --mainly minerals--are bought by American companies. In February, when President Joseph Kabila visited Washington, his only speech was before U.S. mining and mineral executives, where he said: "I'm committed to the economic success of the people of the Congo ... to achieve that, I need you all."

Debate: The article notes that the U.S. backed former Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko because he was anti-Communist. Students can debate this question: Should the U.S. back antidemocratic leaders if their policies, support U.S. economic or political interests?

Critical Thinking: The article notes that most people believe that stability and democracy cannot spread across Africa unless they first take root in Congo. Ask students how Congo's size or its location could influence peace or stability on the continent. Do big countries, simply because they are big, naturally influence events in smaller, neighboring countries?

If this is true, What went wrong in Congo? Study the map on page 17. How can small nations like Rwanda and Burundi threaten the much larger Congo? (Like most African countries, Congo is fractured along ethnic and political lines, Kinshasa exercises minimal control over the eastern half of the Country.)

NORIMITSU ONISHI is West Africa bureau chief for The New York Times, based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.