A new attempt is under way in Zambia to launch peace talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Tutsi rebel forces in eastern Congo.

The Zambian President, Frederick Chiluba, told reporters in Lusaka that he would host the talks and that he expected them to begin there this week.

Mr Chiluba said he'd secured what he called the concurrence of the DR Congo leader President Kabila to the participation of the rebels and that delegates from the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity had already begun arriving. The last attempt by President Chiluba to mediate in the Congo civil war foundered in January.