A human-rights group has said that at least 11 civilians and possibly more than 40 were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an army operation in Equateur.

The BBC has reported that Asadho, the African Association for the Defense of Human Rights, said nine of the confirmed dead at the airport in Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur province, had been taken prisoner. They were allegedly killed after being accused of being rebels.

The Hague - A trial against former Congolese vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is due to start April 27 at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, according to a court statement.

In their trial date decision issued late Thursday, judges Adrian Fulford, Elizabeth Odio Benito and Joyce Aluoch wrote that Bemba, 47, is to face five counts of war crimes, including murder and rape, allegedly committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2002 and 2003.

The Hague - A trial against former Congolese vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is due to start April 27 at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, according to a court statement.

In their trial date decision issued late Thursday, judges Adrian Fulford, Elizabeth Odio Benito and Joyce Aluoch wrote that Bemba, 47, is to face five counts of war crimes, including murder and rape, allegedly committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2002 and 2003.

New York/Goma  - United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo should cut all support for the army, which is raping and killing civilians during anti-rebel operations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

The New York-based rights body on Monday said its research had found that Congolese soldiers have killed at least 270 civilians since March, most of them women, children and the elderly.

New Delhi, Oct 29 : India Thursday said it will offer $263 million line of credit for three projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and also set up an IT excellence centre in the Central African country.

This was decided in a meeting between the visiting Congo Foreign Minister, Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, and his Indian counterpart S. M. Krishna here.

Mwamba arrived here Tuesday for a four-day official visit. The last high profile bilateral visit had been Congo President Joseph Kabila's visit to India in April 2008.

Kinshasa/Geneva  - A United Nations-backed operation to flush out Rwandan and Ugandan rebels from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has sparked a sharp rise in killings and sexual violence since February, a UN special investigator said Thursday.

"(Operation) Kimia II has spawned a human rights disaster while its military successes remain unclear," Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, told journalists in Kinshasa at the end of an 11-day trip to the central African country.

Kinshasa/Geneva  - A United Nations-backed operation to flush out Rwandan and Ugandan rebels from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has sparked a sharp rise in killings and sexual violence since February, a UN special investigator said Thursday.

"(Operation) Kimia II has spawned a human rights disaster while its military successes remain unclear," Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, told journalists in Kinshasa at the end of an 11-day trip to the central African country.

The Hague  - The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is due to deliver judgement on Friday on the appeal of a former Congolese general who claims his case cannot be admitted to the UN-sponsored court.

Germaine Katanga, 31, commander of the Force de Resistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI) has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Katanga, as the head of the FRPI, is accused of planning an attack in 2003 on the village of Bogoro in which 200 civilians were killed.

Oslo/Kinshasa - Two Norwegian men have been sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo for murdering their driver, according to Norwegian media reports.

The court in the capital Kinshasa also ordered both accused and the Norwegian state to pay the Congolese state 60 million dollars (41 million euros) in damages, reports said.

Norway's foreign minister Jonas Gahr Stre protested against the court's ruling which also found the men guilty of spying.

Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton resolved differences with a student who angered her with a question during a public forum in Congo, the State Department said Tuesday.

Clinton lost her cool Monday when the male student appeared to have asked her for her husband's opinion on China's growing economic clout in Africa.

Nairobi/Kinshasa - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Tuesday called on the Congolese government to tackle sexual violence against women, during a visit to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The sprawling Central African nation's bloody war officially ended in 2003, but various rebel groups have kept the conflict running in the eastern provinces, bringing violence and terror to civilians.

Kinshasha (Congo), Aug. 11 : U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost her cool on Monday when a student asked her what Bill Clinton thought about the growing influence of China on the continent.

Hillary Clinton, who is currently traveling in seven African countries, seemed initially perplexed when a student asked her the question during a meeting with the Congolese youth in Kinshasa.

Clinton angrily replied:

Luanda/Kinshasa - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Monday arrived in conflict-hit Democratic Republic of Congo, where she is expected to call for an end to sexual violence against women.

While a bloody war in the sprawling Central African nation officially ended in 2003, various rebel groups have kept the conflict running in the eastern provinces.

The Hague  - The prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC) concluded its case Tuesday in the trial of Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, according to a court statement Tuesday.

Lubanga, 48, is standing trial at the ICC in The Hague on charges of recruiting child soldiers for the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lubanga is allegedly responsible for creating an entire infrastructure around child soldiers during the bloody Congolese civil war between 1998 and 2003.

At the opening of the trial in January Lubanga pleaded not guilty.

New York  - The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned continued attacks on civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo by illegal armed groups that have defied calls to disband.

The council singled out the Lord's Resistance Army, which originated in Uganda, and the Democratic Force for the Liberation of Rwanda, both of which ravage the northeastern parts of Congo in areas adjacent to Rwanda and Uganda.

The council said the two groups have committed grave human rights violations, including widespread sexual violence and the recruitment of children for combat.

The Hague - Congolese politician Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is due to appear before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague Monday afternoon for a procedural hearing about his pre-trial detention.

The ICC's rules of procedure and evidence determine all detained suspects should be heard "at least once every year." The first year of Bemba's detention is due to expire on July 3.

The ICC has charged Jean-Pierre Bemba, 47, with five counts of war crimes allegedly committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) between 2002 and 2003.

Nairobi/Goma - UN-backed plans to attack Hutu rebels in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo will lead to civilian deaths and widespread suffering, international aid agency Oxfam warned Wednesday.

Rwandan and Congolese troops joined forces in January to target the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) - an armed group created by Hutu militia who took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

The subsequent fighting saw around 250,000 people displaced in the east of the country - as many as during heavy fighting between government troops and Tutsi rebels late last year.

Nairobi/Kinshasa - The United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) Wednesday dismissed media reports it was working with a former rebel leader facing war crimes charges. The BBC said its correspondent in the DR Congo had seen documents proving General Bosco Ntaganda was taking part in the chain of command in a mission involving MONUC.

Nairobi/Kinshasa - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday called for a new momentum for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a speech to lawmakers in the central African nation.

Sarkozy, who travelled with a delegation of ministers and business representatives, said that there was a need to unite various rebel factions and regional governments in order to avoid further chaos.

Rebel groups have in recent years continued to cause trouble in the east of DR Congo, with last year seeing a flare-up in fighting that displaced over 250,000 people.

Nairobi/Kinshasa  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday morning to discuss ways to find peace in the east of the central African nation.

Sarkozy, who travelled with a delegation of ministers and business representatives, is due to meet Congolese President Joseph Kabila and address parliament.

Rebel groups have in recent years continued to cause trouble in the east of DR Congo, with last year seeing a flare-up in fighting that displaced over 250,000 people.