No recent information on the Liberal Democrats Assembly (Rassemblement des démocrates libéraux du Zaïre, RDL) or on its founding president, Alphonse Mwamba Mulunda, could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response. Attempts to reach the party's offices at the telephone number provided on the Internet site of Liberal International proved unsuccessful.

Without providing any details, some sources indicated that the RDL was one of the political groups that existed under Mobutu (

Documentation-Réfugiés

16-29 Mar. 1993; AP 16 Jan. 1992; Congonline n.d.). However, on the Internet site of Liberal International, which was last updated on 5 December 2000, the RDL is registered as a political party in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Alphonse Mwamba Mulunda, former finance minister under Mobutu (Le Phare 19 Jan. 2004; AP 16 Jan. 1992) was the president of that party (ibid.; Documentation-Réfugiés 16-29 Mar. 1993; Liberal International 5 Dec. 2000; Congonline n.d.).

In a 19 January 2004 e-mail sent to the Research Directorate, the editor-in-chief of the Congolese daily Le Phare, published in Kinshasa, indicated that, pending the results of a thorough investigation, there was some doubt as to the actual existence of this party and that, if it did exist, [translation] "it did not seem to be bustling with activity."

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Associated Press (AP). 16 January 1992. Michelle Faul. "Eight Killed in Ethnic Clashes Linked to Democracy Conference." (Dialog)

Congonline. n.d. "Partis politiques." http://www.congonline.com/Politiq/partis.htm [Accessed 19 Jan. 2004]

Documentation-Réfugiés [Paris]. 16-29 March 1993. Supplement to No. 212. "Zaïre : Partis politiques."

Liberal International. 5 December 2000. "Facts & Figures: Rassemblement des démocrates libéraux de Zaïre (RDL)-Congo (Democratic Republic)." http://www.liberal-international.org/factfig/contacts.html [Accessed 20 Jan. 2004]

Le Phare [Kinshasa]. 19 January 2004. E-mail sent to the Research Directorate by the editor-in-chief.

Additional Sources Consulted

Africa Confidential 1990-2003

Africa Research Bulletin 1993-2003

Belgium. October 2002. Documentation Centre for Asylum Agencies (CEDOCA). Rapport de mission à Kinshasa (République démocratique du Congo) du 16 juin au 5 août 2002.

Dialog

Info-Congo/Kinshasa 2000-2001

The International Who's Who 1997-2004

IRB Databases

Jeune Afrique 1996-2000

Jeune Afrique/L'Intelligent 2000-January 2004

Mondes rebelles. 2001

Resource Centre country file. RDC

Internet sites, including:

Africatime

Allafrica

Digitalcongo.net

European Country of Origin Information Network (Ecoi.net)

ReliefWeb

Le Soir [Brussels]