Nairobi/Goma - The Congolese army and Tutsi rebels have been involved in some of the worst clashes for a week despite rebel leader Laurent Nkunda telling a United Nations envoy that he supports peace in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN said Monday.

"Yesterday we had a lot of clashes in Riwindi (125 kilometres north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province) and its outskirts," Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich, military spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Nairobi /Goma - Troops from Angola and Zimbabwe are supporting the Congolese army in its battle against rebel forces in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, reports said Wednesday. The news raised fears of the conflict widening.

Eyewitnesses told the BBC that they had seen what they believed to be Angolan and Zimbabwean soldiers dressed in the uniform of the Congolese army.

New York  - The United Nations Security Council continues to contemplate additional forces for a peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where civilians are increasingly bearing the brunt of fighting between government troops and rebels.

In a closed-door meeting late Tuesday in New York, UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy briefed the 15-country Security Council on the situation in the eastern DR Congo, where government troops in full retreat have reportedly resorted to looting and other abuses against civilians.

Nairobi/Goma  - Rebel leader Laurent Nkunda threatened to overthrow the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, should he be excluded from negotiations to achieve a peaceful solution in the eastern part of the African state.

Warning President Joseph Kabila not to ditch talks, the Rwandan-backed rebel general told BBC radio: "If he refuses to talk now he will not be able to rule Congo and to lead it."

Kabila so far rejected direct talks with General Nkunda, saying they would be unconstitutional.

Nairobi/Goma - The UN childrens emergency fund UNICEF warned Monday of the danger of a cholera catastrophe in the conflict-ridden North Kivu region of eastern Congo, with international relief groups saying their work was being hampered by the security situation.

UNICEF coupled the warning with a demand that safe access to the region's refugees be guaranteed.

Johannesburg  - Southern African leaders on Sunday resolved to provide "immediate assistance" to the Army of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda's forces.

The 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) said it would deploy a peacekeeping force in Congo "if necessary."