The DRC was free to celebrate its 40th year of independence on Friday with great optimism for the future, since its aggressors and their supporters were no longer convinced they could easily win the war, President Laurent-Desire Kabila told Congolese television on Thursday. "I am delighted because our people have resisted the war of aggression, and we are now celebrating our anniversary. This is very important indeed," he said. The government planned an official ceremony and a military parade in Kinshasa, but reports from the capital said there had been few signs of public celebration, in a country wracked by corruption, war and faction fighting, the BBC reported. The opposition daily, 'Le Potentiel', said "independence has been a nightmare ... the country has ceased to function as a country. It has become a vast battleground," it added.
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