BRAZZAVILLE, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - President Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva on Monday arrived in the Congolese capital Brazzaville for a one-day visit, the first by a Brazilian leader to the African country.

Lula, who was accompanied by a large number of ministers and business leaders, was welcomed by Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso.

The two leaders were to have talks on closer cooperation between their countries on Tuesday morning before attending a meeting of business leaders and signing agreements on trade, health, diplomatic relations and sports.

BRAZZAVILLE, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - Congo on Tuesday banned domestic airlines from using Antonov planes to carry passengers, after one of the Soviet-era aircraft crashed in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, killing 50 people.

'For reasons of air safety, Antonov passenger aircraft are suspended from flying from Tuesday, October 9, 2007 in accordance with new regulations,' the national aviation agency said in a statement.

'Airlines using other types of aircraft should be prepared to add on flights' to accommodate the extra passengers, it added.

BRAZZAVILLE, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) - The Congolese government on Wednesday accused followers of a former rebel chief of attacking train passengers after the supremo was barred from taking up a ministerial post under a peace deal.

'Passengers on a train from Pointe-Noire were subjected to extortion on Monday by former fighters bearing allegiance to Reverend Ntumi,' Communications Minister Alain Akouala told AFP.

BRAZZAVILLE, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Congolese authorities on Monday blocked an ex-rebel chief from entering the capital to take up duties as a deputy minister under a peace deal, but promised they were still adhering to the 'principle' of his inclusion in the government.

Frederic Bintsamou, alias Ntumi, a Protestant clergyman who headed a rebellion from 1998 to 2003, said he had been stopped near a bridge leading into Brazzaville and told to wait.

BRAZZAVILLE, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Negotiations between Congolese authorities and former militants Monday delayed the return of an ex-rebel chief to the capital where he is to take up duties as a deputy minister, officials said.

Frederic Bintsamou, alias Ntumi, has been entrenched in southeastern Congo for 10 years but President Denis Sassou Nguesso named him a deputy minister in May following a peace pact.

The Protestant clergyman who headed a rebellion from 1998 to 2003 has been tasked with promoting peace and healing the wounds of war.

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 19, 2007 (AFP) - Congo's President Denis Sassou Nguesso has commuted the sentences of 17 people on death row to life terms in a sweeping pardon to mark the country's national day, according to a statement received Sunday.

'Ten years have been taken off sentences ranging from 21 to 30 years,' a presidential decree said, adding that all death sentences had been commuted to life terms.

It said life sentences had been cut down to 30 years in prison.

'Sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years will be cut by half,' the statement said.

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 15, 2007 (AFP) - Congo will contribute troops to a hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur, President Denis Sassou Nguesso said on Wednesday.

'The Congolese government has decided to reinforce its presence in Darfur. In addition to the observers who are there on the ground, a company of soldiers from the Congolese armed forces will be put at the disposal of the hybrid force to be deployed soon,' the president said on state television.

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 10, 2007 (AFP) - Former Congolese president Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango returned to his home country Friday after 10 years in exile.

An official with the opposition Rally for Democracy and Development party (RDD) said Yhombi-Opango was a guest of honour for independence festivities scheduled for August 15 in Owando, the main city in his home region.

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 10, 2007 (AFP) - Congo's ruling coalition was Friday declared the winner of legislative elections, despite opposition charges of electoral fraud.

The Congolese Labour Party of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and its allies won an outright majority, grabbing 124 of the 137 seats in parliament after a count of ballots cast in two rounds, on June 24 and August 5, Territory Administration Minister Francois Ibovi said.

The opposition has only 11 seats in the new parliament.

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 9, 2007 (AFP) - Congo never stopped selling crude oil to the United States, contrary to reports in March, in order to prevent the seizure of its cargos and revenues by US courts, the US ambassador said.

Robert Weisberg told a press briefing that as far as he knew, Congo never stopped selling petrol as the United States is a major consumer of Congolese oil.

Congo's National Oil Company said in March it was stopping the sale of crude oil to the United States in order to prevent the seizure of its cargos and revenues by US courts.

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 6, 2007 (AFP) - The second round of legislative voting in the Congo Republic was marred by fraud, the prime opposition party charged Monday in the aftermath of an election wrought with problems from the outset.

The government 'used manipulation, corruption, bribery and dirty tricks,' a top official of the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS), Joseph Kignoumbi Kia Mboungou said.

'These are the sort of actions that cannot advance democracy,' he added.

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 5, 2007 (AFP) - Congo on Sunday held a second round of legislative polls after a disastrous first phase marred by chaos, glitches and foul play allegations, but the logistics were only marginally better this time.

Sunday's polls were to choose candidates for 84 seats in the 137-seat national assembly where a result was not reached in the June 24 first round.

Polls closed as scheduled at 1700 GMT and no major incidents were reported, although the voting got off to a rocky start.

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 5, 2007 (AFP) - Voting for a second round of legislative elections in Congo got off to a slow start Sunday, after a disastrous first phase marred by chaos, logistical glitches and allegations of foul play.

Polling stations opened as planned at 7:00 am (0600 GMT) in the central and northern areas of the capital Brazzaville, but voters were left waiting outside as they lacked equipment such as voting papers, booths and ballot boxes.

The situation in the economic capital of Pointe Noire was the same, a local journalist told AFP.

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 5, 2007 (AFP) - Voting for a second round of legislative elections in Congo got off to a slow start Sunday, with polling booths still being set up in some areas over an hour after polls officially opened.

The first round on June 24 was marred by chaos, logistical glitches and allegations of foul play, and electoral authorities had sought to alleviate fears of a replay in Sunday's polls.

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 4, 2007 (AFP) - The central African nation of Congo goes to the ballot on Sunday for a second round of legislative polls after a disastrous first phase marred by chaos, logistical glitches and allegations of foul play.

Electoral authorities in the smaller neighbour of the oil-rich Democratic Republic of Congo sought to alleviate fears that the second round would be a replay of the first but acknowledged that things were not 100 percent ready.

'The vote will take place,' Henri Bouka, the head of the national electoral commission, told AFP.

LIBREVILLE, July 23, 2007 (AFP) - Andre Milongo, a former Congolese prime minister and a key opposition figure, died overnight in a Paris hospital, an official said Monday.

'Mr. Milongo was ill. He died in the hospital where he was admitted a few days ago,' the vice president of Congo`s national assembly, Gabriel Oba Apounou, told AFP without giving further details.