The International Criminal Court at the Hague says it plans to investigate businesses in about 30 countries suspected of financing the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The slaughter in the democratic republic of Congo will be the first case to be tackled by the new International Criminal Court. But its remit will go far beyond the country where three million people died as their land became a battleground for several neighbouring countries and inter-ethnic conflicts. The suffering of the Congolese was prolonged because of the ease with which many of the warring factions could obtain heavy-duty weapons on the open market. The chief prosecutor of the International Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, described the killing in the DRC as the most important case since World War II. He said his investigations will spread all over the world to try to track down businesses that traded weapons in exchange for diamonds and gold.
| Betcha the investigation stops at the French border. It may not even get as far as Belgium. |
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