# Laurent-Désiré Kabila A veteran of the 1960s Simba rebellion who spent three decades in the eastern bush and then, at Rwanda's selection, fronted the alliance that ended [[Mobutu Sese Seko]]. Kabila led the **AFDL** from October 1996 — a coalition of Banyamulenge fighters and Congolese militias with Rwandan Patriotic Army regulars integrated into it, backed also by Uganda, Eritrea and Angola. Kisangani fell in March 1997, Lubumbashi in April, Kinshasa in May. He declared himself president on 17 May 1997 and renamed Zaire the Democratic Republic of the Congo. See [[First Congo War]]. Two things define his period for this cluster. The first is that mining companies contracted with him **before he had won** — Lundin over Tenke Fungurume, America Mineral Fields over Kipushi and the Kolwezi tailings, the latter reportedly involving a Learjet and $1 million in advanced fees. The Congolese parliament's own Lutundula Commission later alleged that part of Lundin's first instalment went to a company partly owned by Kabila; Lundin denies it. The second is that he turned on his sponsors. On 27 July 1998 he ordered Rwandan and Ugandan forces out; within a week they had invaded. See [[Second Congo War]]. He was assassinated by a bodyguard on 16 January 2001 and succeeded by his son Joseph, who governed until 2019 and was himself sanctioned by the US Treasury in April 2026. ## See also [[First Congo War]] · [[Second Congo War]] · [[Gécamines]] · [[Congolese History Hub]]