Katanga: Fighting for DR Congo's cash cow to secede

By Maud Jullien, BBC

After a well-known warlord escaped from prison in Katanga, the Democratic Republic of Congo's most stable province has been terrorised for the last year by a group demanding independence for the mineral-rich region.

In Katanga, it is common to hear people complain that they are not benefiting from their region's immense copper and cobalt resources, so it was no surprise that many young people initially responded to the separatists' call.

It is also an issue on which the southern province has infamous form.

Less than a week after Congo's independence in June 1960, it announced it was seceding, sparking a conflict fuelled by Cold War rivalries.

Secessionist leader and businessman Moise Tshombe was backed by Belgium, the ex-colonial power, and the UK and US, which all had mining interests in Katanga and baulked at the idea of a Congo led by a government allied to the Soviet Union.

Within four months Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba had been overthrown. He was later assassinated, while Mr Tshombe eventually bowed to UN pressure and superior firepower. Katanga was reintegrated in 1963.

Cold War politics may no longer be an issue for the Swahili-speaking province almost the size of France, but the alienation from the rest of DR Congo its many residents feel still is.