Fifty-nine people were killed and seven injured in fighting in the northeastern a town of Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, according to an independent source in touch with witnesses in the town.
Four of the dead were seen in Bunia's marketplace and 15 at the airport.
Forty bodies were counted at Doroma, a village three kilometers (two miles) from Bunia, near the airport, which was the target of attacks Friday.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said Friday that his country and the new leadership in the (DRC) should be more determined than ever to fight for their sovereignty following the death of president Laurent Kabila.
Mugabe, whose country backs Kinshasa in a war against rebels supported by Rwanda and Uganda, said the death of Kabila would not affect relations between the two countries after meeting with a delegation of Congolese cabinet ministers, state radio reported.
He handed a personal message to the ministers to be presented to DRC's acting leader, Joseph Kabila, the son of the late president.
"Mugabe offered condolences to the delegation saying that the devastating situation in the DRC should not be allowed to adversely affect relations between the two countries but must strengthen the will to fight for common principles and the sovereignty of the two nations," said Mugabe.
The team of DRC officials led by Education Minister Abdoulaye Yerodia met with Mugabe to finalise burial arrangements for the slain leader whose body is set to be airlifted from Harare Saturday for Kabila's hometown of Lubumbashi en route to the capital Kinshasa.
With some 12,000 troops deployed in the DRCongo, Zimbabwe has been the largest military supporter of the DRCongo since the outbreak of a Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed rebellion in August 1998.
In Berlin, German Minister Otto Schily told regional German officials Friday not to expel illegal immigrants or asylum-seekers to the Democratic Republic of Congo pending clarification of the situation there.
He said the evolution of the situation in the DRC following the murder of Kabila was unpredictable and that expulsions to Kinshasa should therefore be halted.
"It must be established that there is no danger for the persons concerned due to the political situation on the ground before expulsions resume," Schily said in a statement -- (AFP)
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