"The old man died last night in Paris, following an illness and the news immediately reached us," a member of his family confirmed to the press on Saturday.
Kolelas, who was a fierce opponent to all governments in Congo since 1963, led the Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (MCDDI).
He was elected in 2007 as member of Parliament for the district of Goma Tsé-Tsé, in the department of Pool (South), where he was originally from.
Defeated by Pascal Lissouba in the 1992 elections, Kolelas was elected mayor of Brazzaville the same year and was actively involved with his militias 'Ninjas' in the civil war that split Congo between 1993 and 1994.
Kolelas, who had been the mediator in the conflict that opposed government forces of Lissouba in 1997 by the militias of incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso, was appointed prime minister by Lissouba in September 1997.
He went into exile some years later after the victory of Nguesso's militias.
Kolelas was sentenced by a Congolese court for "rapes, confinement, arrests and other war crimes."
Nguesso granted him amnesty in 2005, which enabled him to return to Congo after his wife's death.
Brazzaville - 14/11/2009
Pana
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