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