In pictures: Cry for peace in Congo

Hundreds of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo have taken part in a protest in the eastern city of Goma to demand peace and protection for the region.

The demonstrators sang in Swahili "God take care of us, we are tired".

One of the women said the plight of their children - many of whom are sick, starving, lost or dead - led them to gather together "to cry and to ask for peace, just that".

The women say they are being raped by rebel fighters, as well as army and police forces.

One woman, speaking from hospital, said she was among a group of villagers who had been raped by Mai Mai rebels in front of their husbands, who the insurgents had tied up with ropes.

A spokesman for the charity ActionAid said the high incidence of rape sometimes resulted in offspring known as the "children of war".

In addition to violence, women are dealing with food shortages and sickness. Around 1,000 cases of cholera have been reported since October, the World Health Organisation warned.

Fighting that flared at the end of August has displaced 250,000 people, despite the presence of the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world.

Soldiers and rebels are guarding a tense front line just kilometres from Goma, raising fears that fighting would resume, despite a lull in fighting this week.

The rebel leader says he is fighting because the Congolese government has not done enough to protect his minority Tutsi ethnic group from Hutu militias.

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