Draft constitution adopted in Congo

A spokesman for the Congolese government says a draft constitution has been adopted that will strengthen the executive by making the president head of both state and government.

The draft referendum will be put to a referendum.

Among other proposals, it calls for a bi-cameral parliament, and prevents both the president from dissolving the lower house and that body from dismissing him. In August the Congolese president, Denis Sassou Nguesso, announced that constitutional changes would be subject to national debate as part of measures to restore democracy.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service