Congo suspects on hunger strike

Twelve men in jail in the Democratic Repubic of Congo on suspicion of involvement in the assassination of the former president, Laurent Kabila, have gone on hunger strike.

Announcing the news in Kinshasa, the wives of the hunger strikers said they included eleven soldiers and a Congolese diplomat.

They said the protest, which had already lasted a week, was to demand that evidence against the suspects should be made public, or they should be released.

The Congolese authorities say just over 100 people remain in custody in connection with the killing of President Kabila in January, including soldiers and officials close to him.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service