The First Congo War was triggered by the culmination of multiple developments. Chief among them were instability in eastern Zaire (as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was then known) after Rwandan refugees, including some Hutu extremists who opposed Rwanda’s government, fled to Zaire and sometimes clashed with inhabitants; Pres. Mobutu Sese Seko’s support of Hutu extremists; and rebels led by Laurent Kabila, who had the support of Rwanda, Angola, and Uganda.