A rebel delegation from eastern Congo has also gone to Europe -- to object to President Kabila's visit there.

A member of the delegation, Arthur Zahidi Ngoma, told the BBC he couldn't confirm reports that hundreds of rebels were killed over the weekend in air raids by Zimbabwean forces involved in the Congo conflict.

The French news agency earlier quoted what it called independent sources as saying six-hundred rebels died when Zimbabwean planes fired at barges carrying rebel troops and military supplies on Lake Tanganyika.