Civil wars and militia conflicts have plagued the Republic of Congo in its recent past and the country is struggling to build on a peace accord signed with southern rebels in 2003.
After three coup-ridden but relatively peaceful decades of independence, the former French colony experienced the first of two destructive bouts of fighting when disputed parliamentary elections in 1993 led to bloody, ethnically-based fighting between pro-government forces and the opposition.
Remnants of the civil war militias, known as Ninjas, are still active in the southern Pool region. Most of them have yet to disarm and many have turned to banditry. Congo is one of sub-Saharan Africa's main oil producers.
The resource is the mainstay of the economy and the country has tried to increase financial transparency in the sector.
