Who are the rebels?

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Last March an equally tiny army of guerrillas entered Zaire from Angola.

The core of this force was provided by former members from the Katanga police of Moise Tshombe, who had fled to Angola when their leader was ousted and Mobutu came to power in 1965.

Shunning the FNLA because of its links with Mobutu, these rightist forces joined up with the Angolan MPLA.

But the Katangese retained their own bases with the aim of recreating an independent state of Katanga.

This prospect must have considerable attractions for the Angolan government and Stalinist allies.

Like the military dictatorship of the Derg in Ethiopia, the former Katangese police could be relied upon to suppress ruthlessly any genuine revolutionary developments, while remaining faithful military allies of the Stalinist bureaucracies.

But neither the Angolan regime nor its Cuban and Soviet guests have given them direct As the secessionist forces advanced into Katanga, (renamed 'Shaba', ie 'Copper' by Mobutu), their assault was aided by the National Front for the Liberation of the Congo (the previous name for Zaire), which within operated bases Zaire:

Reeling under this double attack, Mobutu's police state was last year on the verge of collapse when Moroccan troops were flown in by the French military.

With this expert assistance, the offensive was finally repulsed.

Since last year's defeat, the Katangan secessionists and the anti-imperialist National Front for the Liberation of the Congo have plainly entered into further agreements, as the same forces appear to be involved in the present revolt.

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