Nairobi/Goma - The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) condemned "war crimes" in the country, as Pope Benedict XVI called for joint effects to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

MONUC head Alan Doss condemned militias fighting in the DR Congo's east, accusing them of committing "war crimes."

Johannesburg - Opening a regional summit on the political crisis in Zimbabwe South African President Kgalema Motlanthe expressed disappointment at the impasse in powersharing talks between President Robert Mugabe and the opposition and urged them to quickly reach agreement.

Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai are attending the meeting of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Johannesburg.

The conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a member of SADC, is also on the agenda of the meeting, which Congolese President Joseph Kabila is attending.

Nairobi/Goma - The head of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC), Alan Doss, has condemned militias fighting in the east of the country, accusing them of committing "war crimes."

Doss said that the UN did not yet have a clear idea of a massacre that occurred in the town of Kinwanja, which was first taken by Mai Mai militias loyal to the government, then by the forces of rebel general Laurent Nkunda.

UN aid workers had found the bodies of dozens of civilians in the town some 80 kilometres north of the provincial capital of Goma.

African leaders attending an emergency summit in Nairobi Friday on the conflict urged an immediate ceasefire and the extension of UN peacekeeping powers in the country.

New York - While United Nations peacekeepers are accused of failing their duties in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN General Assembly president said Friday the conflict there has reached an unprecedented scale in brutality against women and girls.

"This makes MONUC's mandate impossible to achieve," said Miguel d'Escoto, president of the 192-nation assembly, referring to the UN Mission in Congo known as MONUC, composed of about 17,000 military troops, or one peacekeeper for every 10,000 Congolese.

Nairobi/Goma - African leaders attending an emergency summit in Nairobi on the conflict currently engulfing the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have urged an immediate ceasefire and the extension of UN peacekeeping powers in the country.

The summit also called for the creation of humanitarian corridors to help the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict in the North Kivu region of eastern Congo.

Berlin- The Africa correspondent of a leading German newspaper was released on Friday after three days in the hands of a militia group in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Belgian-born Thomas Scheen, 43, and his two local assistants were safely in the hands of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUC, a German government spokesman said.