Kabila’s death stirs anti-Western sentiment in Congo

The potholed streets have been swept clean, the curbs have been painted and palm fronds - a sign of mourning - have been placed along lampposts and streetlights as this crumbling capital city prepares for the burial of its late president, Laurent Kabila. Mr. Kabila, who has been lying in state for the past two days, is to be interred today, one week after he was reportedly shot by a bodyguard who was then himself killed, according to government officials. The Associated Press news agency notes that it also comes amid skyrocketing anti-Western sentiment as the people of this city lash out at foreigners, particular white foreigners, blaming them for Kabila's killing. Local people think that the whites “don't want blacks to progress'' and ''Kabila has died because he said no to the white man.'' Much of the public bitterness, though, appears more rooted in desperate poverty and frustration than in racism. The West does have a brutal past in Congo. The nation, originally the personal property of Belgium's King Leopold II, saw slavery continue into the 20th century. In the decades after independence in 1960, the West kept friendly relations with Mobutu Sese Seko, the deeply corrupt dictator who was backed for his anti-communist stance. The government is now led by Kabila's son, Joseph.