UN team probes Congo looting

A United Nations team has had talks with President Mugabe of Zimbabwe about allegations of large-scale international looting during the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The team's leader, Mohammed Kassem, said the talks, in Harare, were a follow-up to a UN report which has accused combatants in the war - especially Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi - of plundering gold, diamonds and timber.

Another UN official is reported as saying that the team also wants to investigate alleged looting by Zimbabwean and Namibian soldiers who have been fighting to support the Congolese Government against rebels backed by Rwanda and Burundi.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service