General Denis Sassou-Nguesso handed over power after elections in 1992, his successor got on the wrong side of the army, and Sassou-Nguesso was back in power five years later after a short but bloody civil war. Since then, various militias with names like the Ninjas and the Cobras have been battling government troops, creating hundreds of thousands of refugees and untold casualties. Fighting in Brazzaville, the capital, has displaced over 200,000 people from their homes.

The rebels are also involved in the settlement, which is significant because up to now President Kabila has refused to recognise them, regarding them as illegal. Moreover, for the first time Congo has recognised the problem of the extremist Hutu militias in the east of the country.