For that reason, it was all the more inclined to give in to the demands for immediate independence voiced ever more vocally by the Congolese leaders.

In January 1960, Congolese political leaders were invited to Brussels to participate in a round-table conference to discuss independence.

With elections promised for next year, the Congolese leader has played a nationalist card, asserting his independence from his sponsors, Rwanda and Uganda.

His name is among those Congolese leaders who compiled key documents laying out the aspiration for independence from Belgium in the late 1950s.

The phrase has been used frequently by Congolese leaders.

But this technocratic term scarcely does justice to the self-perpetuating machine of immiseration that one Congolese leader after another has operated for over a century.

Appointed Prime Minister, he formed a coalition Cabinet with Belgian and Congolese leaders.

On paper, the accord calls for a cease-fire, disarmament of militias, negotiations among Congolese political leaders and a withdrawal of all foreign forces.

King Baudouin invited eighty Congolese leaders to Brussels to chart a course for independence.

The Congolese leader had "expressed a conviction to start the dialogue, carry out the Lusaka accords and then rebuild democracy," the official said.