Kinshasa - Rebels fighting to overthrow the Congolese President, Mr Laurent Kabila, were in control of the town of Kindu yesterday, neutralising his last major bastion in the east, sources on both sides said.
Rebels and loyalist military sources said that Kindu, with its strategic airport, fell late on Monday after a week of heavy fighting. The rebels now hold all the main towns in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and its third-largest city, Kisangani.
Meanwhile, state radio said Mr Kabila was in Lubumbashi for talks with the Zimbabwean President, Mr Robert Mugabe, whose troops helped block a rebel attempt to take Kinshasa in August.