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| - Key dates in the history of the Republic of Congo -- which goes to the polls Sunday in a presidential election -- since its independence 60 years ago. Congo becomes independent from France on August 15, 1960, with Abbe Fulbert Youlou its first president. But he steps down three years later after a short uprising dubbed the "Three Glorious Days". Alphonse Massamba-Debat takes over, establishing a system of "scientific socialism". He is overthrown in 1968 by Marien Ngouabi who sets up a Marxist-Leninist regime and renames the country the People's Republic of Congo, run as a one-party state by the Congolese Labour Party (PCT). Ngouabi is assassinated in 1977. Massamba-Debat is accused of his murder and executed. Lieutenant General Joachim Yhombi-Opango takes over until he in turn is toppled in 1979 by elite paratrooper Denis Sassou Nguesso. Several months of protests against Sassou Nguesso in 1991 forces a national conference at which a multi-party system is established. The following year the country holds its first free election and Pascal Lissouba defeats Sassou Nguesso. But the transition to democracy is rocky, with three civil wars in the 1990s. Disputed legislative elections spark bloody unrest in 1993-1994, leaving some 2,000 people dead. Then a second bout of bloodshed in 1997 leaves between 4,000 and 10,000 people dead. Sassou Nguesso ousts Lissouba to take back the presidency. Fresh fighting breaks out again in 1998-99, killing thousands more with fierce fighting in the southern Pool region between rebels and government troops sometimes backed by forces from neighbouring Angola. Sassou Nguesso wins two successive presidencies in 2002 and 2009, but both victories are contested by opposition parties. A controversial 2015 referendum removes a 70-year age limit and ban on presidents serving more than two terms, opening the way for Sassou Nguesso to secure a third term in 2016. His election rivals General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and former minister Andre Okombi Salissa dispute the results. They are arrested, put on trial and each given 20 years in jail for "undermining internal state security". Rebels in Pool take up arms against Brazzaville again. In 2017 several people from Sassou-Nguesso's circle are charged in France as part of a probe into "ill-gotten gains" held by African leaders. The same year a ceasefire is signed with Pool rebels, halting a conflict that forced more than 138,000 people from their homes. Sassou Nguesso, now 77 and president for more than 36 years, goes for another term. burs-eab/fg/ach
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