Leaders from fourteen states in southern Africa have gathered in Mauritius for a two-day regional summit at which the continuing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo will head the agenda.

Zimbabwean officials say President Robert Mugabe is due to have talks on the situation there with his counterparts from Angola and Namibia.

All three leaders have sent troops to back the Congolese president, Laurent Kabila, against Tutsi-led rebel forces, which correspondents say have been backed by Uganda and Rwanda.

Previous meetings of regional African leaders -- including talks in Ethiopia earlier in the week -- have failed to stop the fighting.

The rebels ignored a ceasefire called by an earlier summit in Zimbabwe because they were barred from taking part in the meeting.

The rebels control a large area of eastern Congo, but were forced to retreat in the west when Zimbabwe, Angola and Nambia intervened.