General Denis Sassou Nguesso and The Congo-Brazzaville Conflict Five years after losing presidential elections, General Denis Sassou Nguesso is back in power in Congo-Brazzaville. In a rapid offensive, his Cobra militia captured the capital Brazzaville and the second city Pointe-Noire last week and have since tightened their grip on the rest of the country. His rival, the democratically-elected President Pascal Lissouba, fled the country. After a brief stopover in Togo, he arrived in Burkina Faso where he was offered refuge on "humanitarian grounds". The price of Sassou Nguesso's victory is enormous. Four months of civil war have left the c