Nineteen soldiers are reported to have been executed in the Democratic Republic of Congo for sedition and acts of banditry.

Judicial sources in the capital of Kinshasa said four of those executed were members of the Presidential Guard, while eight others were shot for inciting a rebellion in another elite battalion.

The Congolese military has promised to restore discipline in an army which correspondents has been beset by problems since the later years of the rule of President Mobuto. Military police have been patrolling the streets and markets of Kinshasa in recent weeks in search of soldiers who have gone absent without leave.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service