Congo’s President Joseph Kabila has won another term in office with 49% of the 18.14 million votes cast according to provisional results published by Congo’s election commission.

Gunmen also armed with machetes have attacked Congo’s presidential residence, and at least nine people were killed during nearly an hour of gunfire, a witness said.

More than 1,500 Rwandan troops crossed into eastern Congo, joining Congolese forces in an effort to oust the Hutu rebels who participated in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, officials said today.

REBEL leader Laurent Nkunda yesterday called for ceasefire talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo government after meeting a UN peace envoy even as new clashes broke out between his fighters and the army.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s main rebel leader today promised his support of a ceasefire and UN efforts to end the fighting.

African leaders grappled today with a long-simmering crisis in Zimbabwe and a new humanitarian catastrophe in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A ceasefire called by Congo rebels appeared to be unravelling today.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government today refused rebel leader Laurent Nkunda’s demand for direct talks to solve the crisis in eastern Kivu province, where tens of thousands of desperate refugees were receiving international aid.

Three mass graves have been discovered in an eastern area of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the DRC formerly controlled by a rebel warlord that has been the scene of recent clashes, the United Nations said today.

An arrest warrant was issued today for a former Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo warlord who took refuge inside a foreign embassy while his personal army and government troops fought in the capital.

Fighters loyal to a failed presidential candidate clashed with army forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital Kinshasa today, UN officials and witnesses said.

Demonstrators protesting alleged corruption in Congo’s local and legislative elections turned violent today, leaving more than six dead in several towns, authorities and witnesses said.

CONGO inaugurated Joseph Kabila as its first freely elected president in more than four decades yesterday, installing a rebel leader’s son who ushered in a plan to end years of fighting to help the country take a place among the world’s democracies.

A rebel leader’s son who ushered in a peace plan was sworn in today as the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s first freely-elected president in more than four decades.

Gunshots sounded and street brawls broke out today in Kinshasa among a crowd rallying for the runner-up in Democratic Republic of Congo’s landmark presidential vote as he pursued a court challenge of his loss.

Incumbent President Joseph Kabila was declared the winner of Congo’s tense decider election, defeating his ex-rebel leader rival in the war-torn country’s first multi-party contest in more than 40 years.

People in the Democratic Republic of Congo have finished voting in an election that marks the climax of its four-year postwar transition.

UN troops in armoured vehicles are standing guard at the site of a three-day gun battle that broke out between forces loyal to president Joseph Kabila and a former rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

FIGHTING flared for a third day yesterday between supporters of Congo’s two presidential candidates.

Heavy gunfire erupted in Kinshasa this morning around the home of Congo’s top presidential challenger, a day after fighters trapped diplomats who had to be evacuated by UN peacekeepers.

GUNFIRE broke out yesterday near the home of a leading Congolese politician, prompting the UN to send scores of peacekeepers in armoured vehicles to remove foreign diplomats trapped inside.

Results from Congo’s historic elections today show President Joseph Kabila failing to win an outright majority, and set up a second round vote pitting him against a former rebel leader, officials announced.

Congo, the massive nation at the heart of the world’s poorest continent, chooses a new president tomorrow in the first multi-party elections since independence nearly half a century ago.

Three main militia groups in a strife-torn eastern province have agreed to lay down arms and allow free passage of voters during the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s historic elections, the United Nations said today.

Heavy weapon and tank fire echoed around the Congo capital Kinshasa today as loyalist forces fought what the government described as a short-lived coup attempt by dissidents within the presidential guard.

UN forces opened fire on angry mobs, killing two people, as massive looting protests overran Congo’s capital today in outrage at the fall of an eastern border city to rebels.

President Joseph Kabila declared a “general mobilisation” across Congo after an eastern border city fell to renegade commanders, and pledged Congo’s army would protect Africa’s third-largest nation.

CONGO President Joseph Kabila has appealed for calm and promised that security forces would protect the country’s people after armed groups attacked military installations across the capital in an apparent coup attempt.

Congo President Joseph Kabila appealed for calm today after armed groups attacked military installations across the capital in an apparent attempt to force him from power.

FRENCH troops arrived in Congo yesterday to prepare the way for an international force charged with stabilising a region wracked by tribal fighting, a UN official said yesterday.

Fleeing civilians jammed roads out of an eastern Congo city by the thousands to escape rival ethnic militias battling for control with mortars and machetes.

A military court in Congo today sentenced 26 people to death for the assassination of President Laurent Kabila.

A man in military uniform opened fire in the palace of Congo’s President Joseph Kabila today, launching a gun battle that left two members of the presidential guard and the gunman dead.

THE leaders of Congo and Rwanda signed a peace agreement yesterday that was hailed as a major milestone in efforts to end a war that has destabilised central Africa and killed millions of people.

Congolese President Joseph Kabila will meet leaders from the country's two main rebel groups later this month.

Congo President Joseph Kabila abruptly dismissed his Cabinet and suspended top financial chiefs nationwide, asserting control of the corrupt and inefficient government he inherited from his assassinated father.

Two top army officers have been arrested in the hunt for the killers of Congo leader Laurent Kabila.

Joseph Kabila, the son of assassinated Congolese president Laurent Kabila, has been sworn in as his successor.

The state funeral of assassinated Congo president Laurent Kabila has taken place, with his family and top officials guarded by foreign troops.

Congo is preparing for the burial of its late president, Laurent Kabila.

Congolese President Laurent Kabila was killed while planning to a major political reshuffle.

A news conference in Kinshasa has been told Laurent Kabila's assassin was a former boy soldier.

The body of slain Congolese president Laurent Kabila has been flown to the provinicial capital Lubumbashi.

The body of Congolese president Laurent Kabila will lie in state in Kinshasa for two days before his funeral.