The irony is that that for the people of Congo...the most useful debate may be inspired not by the poverty professionals, but by the likes of private creditors, who...are seeking to collect on Congo's old debts. This past May, one of these private creditors, Kensington International Ltd., filed a...[lawsuit] in New York...against the national oil company of Congo [Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo];...and a French bank involved in financing Congo's state-owned oil business, BNP Paribas. The complaint alleges that "...Congolese officials, along with certain international financial institutions and oil traders, have conspired through schemes of increasing complexity to loot the Congolese national economy"...[and] that the result has been "the impoverishment of the people of Congo..." and "an increased burden upon the world community to aid Congo through debt forgiveness and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries program,...the debasement of the nation's institutions and the entrenchment of a corrupt and predatory regime."... BNP...and SNPC have...filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit...