State prosecutors in the Democratic Republic of Congo...

State prosecutors in the Democratic Republic of Congo want the death penalty for more than 100 suspects on trial for plotting the murder of late President Laurent Kabila, lawyers said. Kabila was shot and killed by a bodyguard in his presidential palace in January 2001 and replaced soon afterwards as head of state of Africa's third-biggest nation by his son, Joseph. Some 115 soldiers and civilians, including a former close presidential aide, have been in jail for 20 months. A trial began in a military court in March, but was put on hold for months before resuming on October 1 with chief prosecutor Colonel Charles Alamba summing up on October 11, lawyers said."The chief prosecutor today called for the death penalty for more than 100 of the accused and sentences ranging from two to 15 years for the rest," Tharcisse Matadi Wamba, president of Congo's national lawyer's association, told Reuters.The trial in Kinshasa's central prison was initially open to the public, with suspects providing dramatic courtroom re-enactments of events surrounding Kabila's death, but the sporadic proceedings have since been kept behind closed doors.Matadi Wamba said the court would recess until October 17, when the defence was scheduled to present its case. A panel of military judges would then deliver its verdict and sentencing.Kabila's former personal chief of staff, Eddy Kapend, is the lead suspect charged with "negligence" for allowing Kabila to be killed during his watch and for ordering the execution of 11 Lebanese civilians killed shortly afterwards.