Amnesty International -The Terror Trade Times - European dealers 'supplied weapons to Congo' In early October 1997, fighting between political factions in the Republic of Congo reached catastrophic proportions with at least 5,000 civilians reportedly losing their lives and many more injured in deliberate attacks. The aggressors' weaponry - some of which was reportedly supplied by a West European arms dealer - included everything from small arms to military helicopters. Documents found in the offices of the ousted government reportedly showed that between June and September 1997 Rudolph Wollenhaupt, a German arms broker, supplied millions of dollars worth of military equipment to the forces of Republic of Congo President Pascal Lissouba. Wollenhaupt is said to have operated from South Africa where some of the equipment was obtained using several companies registered in a number of countries and using Belgian, French and UK bank accounts. Although a tough and restrictive international control mechanism on brokers must be the ultimate goal, a major start can be made by controlling the activities of brokers in Europe. The continent, because of its excellent international financial and communications networks and its proximity to large stockpiles of cheap arms, ammunition and other military and security equipment, has become the centre of the international arms brokering trade. Effective regulation would do much to stem the flow of arms which is turning Africa into a human rights crisis zone.