Mwana Nanga Mawampanga, the finance minister, was apparently sympathetic and so, according to Mr Boulle, was the minister of mines.
ECONOMIST: Mining in Congo
2.
One of the first was Jean Ramon Boulle, Canadian head of American Mineral Fields and a former De Beers employee.
ECONOMIST: Zaire
3.
Because its sister company, De Beers for which Mr Boulle used to work runs the international diamond cartel, it has fallen foul of America's antitrust laws.