Appeals for calm

South African President Thabo Mbeki and other regional leaders on Friday appealed to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to work toward restoring peace in the country following the killing of president Laurent-Desire Kabila, DPA said.

Speaking in Pretoria, Mbeki told reporters his government was awaiting a public statement by Kabila’s son Joseph who formally took over as new president on Friday. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) said in a statement released in Botswana called Kabila’s killing "a sad and unfortunate development" for the region. "President Kabila was one of the key players in the DRC peace process and his death is a major setback to efforts to bring peace to the DRC," it added.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela expressed shock at Kabila’s murder and urged all parties to the DRC conflict to "search for peace". "The resort to violence for the settling of disputes and for the elimination of political opponents cannot be condoned in any circumstances," Mandela said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Kabila’s widow was in Harare with a delegation of top Congo officials to collect her husband’s body, Zimbabwe said on Friday. A statement from the office of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said the body would be on public display for mourners at a military barracks in Harare on Friday afternoon, before being flown back to Kinshasa on Saturday. The statement, carried by the ZIANA state news agency, said: "A high-level Congolese team which includes the wife of the late President Kabila, is already in the country to finalise burial arrangements of the late president."