epa02231386 Congolese police officers march during a parade to mark the 50th anniversary of independence from former colonial master Belgium in Kinshasa, capital of the Democractic Republic of the Congo (DRC), 30 June 2010. The ceremony was attended by King Albert II and caretaker Prime Miniser Yves Leterme of Belgium, and also by the United Nations Seceretary-General Ban Ki-moon along with other African leaders. Ban's visit comes at a time when UN is scheduled to withdraw some 2,000 peacekeepers from DR Congo before 30 June 2010. Congolese President Joseph Kabila has been pressuring UN to withdraw all peacekeepers of MONUC (Mission of the United Nations Organisation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the world's largest and most expensive peacekeeping operation, from the country by the end of 2011. Belgium ruled Congo, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from 1885 to 1960 until Congo won independence in 1960, during the reign of King Baudouin, King Abert II's older brother. In the late 19th century, the Congo Free Stae became infamous for the enslavement and the brutal mistreatment of the Congolese people by Leopold II, the King of the Belgians who plundered and exploited the natural resources of the mineral-rich land. Although they vary considerably, the study by observers and modern scholars suggest that 10 to 20 million Congolese were killed during the period of Leopold's control. EPA/DAI KUROKAWA