Congolese opposition supporters calling themselves “fighters” have intensified attacks against Congolese officials travelling abroad. Katanga Province Governor Moise Katumbi is the latest in a string of officials who have come under attack from the so-called “Patriots-Combatants”.

Etienne Tshisekedi left his home for the first time on Friday since being put under “house arrest”, his spokesman Albert Moleka told Radio Okapi. Mr. Tshisekedi and his wife, Marthe, went to the residence of the German Ambassador in Kinshasa, where they were invited to dinner.

Information Minister Lambert Mende told a news conference on Tuesday that the door for dialogue with opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi remains open. “Mr. Tshisekedi is a valid spokesman for the opposition and its most important leader,” Mr. Mende said. However, he deplored the fact that Mr. Tshisekedi’s party, the UDPS, has asked its newly-elected Members of Parliament to boycott the body or risk being expelled.

Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo has been invited by Pope Benedict XVI to lead this year’s Lenten exercises in the Vatican. The Congolese Conference of Catholic Bishops announced on Friday that Cardinal Monsengwo will preach to the Pope and the Roman Curia during the weeklong spiritual exercises.

President Joseph Kabila’s party, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), and its allies will hold a majority of seats in the new parliament, according to the results of the Nov. 28 parliamentary elections published by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday.

Etienne Tshisekedi's call for a general strike beginning Monday around the Democratic Republic of Congo has largely been ignored. Mbuji-Mayi, in Kasai Oriental Province, was the only major city in the country to experience major disruptions on Monday as most schools and businesses remained closed.

Etienne Tshisekedi announced during a press conference on Friday that he was “officially assuming his functions as the head of state elected by the people.” Mr. Tshisekedi has rejected the results published by the electoral commission and upheld by the Supreme Court declaring Mr. Kabila the winner of the Nov. 28 presidential election.

The main opposition party in DR Congo has denied that its supporters were involved in Saturday's attack against the country's Senate president in Paris. "The Congolese in the diaspora always attack all those who work against their interests. They want change and they have always fought for institutionalization of democracy and constitutionalism in DR Congo," a UDPS official told a press conference on Monday in Kinshasa.

The head of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Senate is in a French hospital after being attacked on New Year's Eve in Paris. Seventy-six-year-old Leon Kengo wa Dondo was assaulted Saturday evening in the French capital.

Etienne Tshisekedi inaugurated himself as the president of Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday. The ceremony was staged at his home after police prevented him and his supporters from holding the event at Stade des Martyrs. Mr. Tshisekedi swore “before God and the nation to uphold and respect the Constitution and laws of the Republic and to defend its national unity and territorial integrity.”