A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo sentenced eight presidential guardsmen to life imprisonment on Tuesday for the murder of an official of the national aviation agency.

"Massive human rights violations at all levels" in the Democratic Republic of Congo were denounced in a report presented to the United Nations Security Council by the independent human rights expert Ritinga Frederic Pacere.

Thirty-some militiamen of two different armed groups were killed by the armed forces in a series of operations aimed at regaining control of territory in the Ituri province, in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has rejected a proposal by Uganda to redeploy its troops to eastern Congo to hunt Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels as well as other Ugandan rebels groups there, Congolese government spokesman and Minister for Information Henri Mova Sakanyi said on Friday.

Uganda sought approval on Thursday from the Democratic Republic of Congo to redeploy troops into eastern Congo to hunt members of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) who entered the country in September, Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa said.

Public schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have reopened after a delay caused by 230,000 teachers who went on strike from 5 September to demand better pay.

The suspects in the murder of Father René de Haes, 72, the Jesuit missionary killed May 7 in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, have once again appeared before the military court of Lemba-Matete in Kinshasa.

Congolese schools will reopen on Monday after over a month long teachers strike in demand for better salary and work conditions.

Following the broadcasting of messages inciting hate and violence in Rwandan' style - where the radio had a decisive role in the 1994 genocide - the United Nations peace mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) suspended its collaboration with a radio television network of Lumumbashi.

The repatriation of Congolese refugees who have been living in camps in western Tanzania began on Wednesday with the first batch of 282 leaving for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has announced.