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The Democratic Republic of Congo is a vast country - nearly the size of Europe - in the heart of Africa. It has borders with nine neighbouring states, all of which have been drawn into its conflicts, when an estimated 5.5 million people died between 1998 and 2004.

There is now a real danger that these regional wars will resume following the collapse of an agreement reached earlier this year and the renewed outbreak of fighting around the eastern town of Goma which the large United Nations force has been unable to prevent. A quarter of a million people have been displaced from their homes in recent weeks.