One month after six of the seven parties fighting in the Congo signed a peace agreement, the remaining holdout has joined the ceasefire. Peace is desperately needed in the long-suffering nation, impoverished by decades of looting by former strongman Mobutu Sese Seko and then wracked by civil war after his overthrow by Mr. Laurent Kabila. The agreement signed in Lusaka, Zambia could deliver it. Strict enforcement will be required, however, if the mistrust is to be bridged and the hatreds that sparked the civil war are to be quelled.
The conflict in Congo has its origins in the furious split between Hutu and Tutsi that dominates much of central Africa. After the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and the overthrow of the Hutu government by Tutsi rebels, the defeated Hutu forces retreated to Congo territory (then known as Zaire). From there they launched raids into Rwanda. The Rwanda government put together a rebel group, led by Mr. Kabila, to stop the attacks. Mr. Kabila's group drove Mobutu from office, but the new president failed to rein in Hutu extremists.
Seemingly unable to learn their lesson, the Rwanda government, this time joined by Uganda, put together another rebel group to force Mr. Kabila from power. Mr. Kabila, in turn, solicited aid from other neighboring countries, reportedly in exchange for shares of his country's vast mineral wealth. The result was a 13-month civil war that was fought to a standstill.