The Democratic Republic of Congo's Independent Electoral Commission announced on Friday that voter registration would only begin in early June, making it likely that the elections will not take place as scheduled.

The Union des patriotes Congolais (UPC), one of the major militia groups in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, announced on Wednesday an end to its insurrection in the district of Ituri.

Two groups of international experts analysing the transitional peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is set to end with national elections in June, have said the country could instead descend to another war.

The remaining 416 militiamen of the Forces armees du peuple congolais (FAPC) surrendered their guns to UN troops on Wednesday, effectively dismantling the movement and boosting efforts to pacify the troubled Ituri District in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

In line with new efforts by the UN mission and the government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to dismantle militias in the troubled northeastern district of Ituri, local authorities announced on Monday the arrest of Kahwa Panga Mandro.

The disarmament effort of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known as MONUC, has brought almost 3,000 minors into the care of child-protection agencies working in the northeastern district of Ituri.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, Netherlands, began hearing a case on Monday brought by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), accusing its neighbour, Uganda, of invading its territory and committing human rights violations.

As UN peacekeeping troops increase the pressure to disarm the militias of Ituri, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), their reintegration into society is beset by many problems.

Nine women were killed and 5,300 civilians displaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo's southwestern province of Katanga following fighting between government troops and Mayi-Mayi militias, a UN official told IRIN on Wednesday.

Provincial authorities in South Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said on Tuesday that there had been fighting between Congolese troops and Rwandan Hutu militias, known as Interahamwe, at a village 150 km north of the provincial capital, Goma.