Southern African leaders have called on the warring parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo to meet urgently to discuss delays in the peace process.

The call came at the end of a summit of leaders of the fourteen-member Southern African Development Community in the Mozambican capital, Maputo.

President Chissano of Mozambique said SADC wanted the parties involved to meet before the UN Security Council opens a special session on Congo next week.

The Presidents of Uganda and Rwanda, who back different rebel groups in Congo, attended the meeting, although the Congolese President, Laurent Kabila, failed to appear.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service