The rebels advanced across the country and threatened Kinshasa. Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe came to the late president's side and fought off the rebels. The low-level civil war ground on, flaring up and dying down as regional mediators sought to bring peace to the troubled country. But conflict degenerated into a war of attrition as the allied troops kept Kabila's enemies at bay. The Lusaka Accords of 1999 under the leadership of Zambia's President Frederick Chiluba and supported by SADC were signed by all parties to the conflict after months of tedious and frustrating negotiations with rebels, Uganda and Rwanda, the allies and the UN, as the potential peacekeepers.
Rumours abound around the circumstances of the mercurial leader's death.
The future depends on many factors, not least of which is the role the new president can play in consolidating his fractious and oft-interfered with nation.