Congolese President calls for unity

. The Congolese president, Denis Sassou Nguesso, has expressed hope that a week-long gathering of political groups in the capital, Brazzaville, would enable the country to get on with the task of national reconciliation.

In his opening speech, President Sassou said there was more to unite the country than to divide it.

But a BBC correspondent says President Sassou devoted much of his speech to bitter condemnation of his predecessor, Pascal Lissouba, whom he ousted last October after four months of fighting.

Close associates of Mr Lissouba were not invited to the meeting.

The delegates are due to decide on the length of a transitional period prior to elections, and to find ways of healing divisions in the country.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service