Opposition leader in DR Congo calls for fight against government

The veteran opposition leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ettiene Tshisekedi, who's under house arrest, has called on people in the country to continue to fight against political oppression and persecution.

In a statement released in the capital, Kinshasa, Mr Tshisekedi said people should fight the new dictatorship -- though he made no specific mention of Congo's President, Laurent Kabila.

The opposition leader called on the population of the former Zaire to fight without hate or violence, but with conviction.

Mr Tshisekedi was arrested in February and then banished to his home village -- some seven hundred kilometres west of the capital -- on charges that he had violated a government ban on political parties.

His detention has been criticised by criticised by the United Nations and the United States.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service