Men in uniform kill journalist in eastern Congo

KINSHASA, Aug 10 (Reuters) Armed men in military uniform shot dead a Congolese photographer in the eastern city of Goma, the national press union said today, Patrick Kikuku, 34, a freelance photojournalist and reporter, was approached on his way home at around 7.30 pm 2300hrs IST yesterday by several men in military uniform, union officials said.

''He was murdered just after getting off work. They shot him once in the head,'' local union president Gabriel Lukeka said.

Kikuku is the latest journalist to be killed in the violence-plagued east of the country, Many men of fighting age in eastern Congo have at some stage served with one of a plethora of rebel or militia groups and were given military fatigues which they never handed in. This means the identity of the attackers was unclear.

Lukeka said their motive was also unknown. There was 30 in Kikuku's pocket when his body was found and he appeared not to have been robbed.

The UN peacekeeping mission, which has a base in Goma, said it was investigating.

Less than two months ago Serge Maheshe, the local head of Radio Okapi, a nationwide radio network set up to aid the peace process in Congo following a 1998-2003 war, was killed in the nearby city of Bukavu.

Two Congolese soldiers were arrested soon after Maheshe was shot leaving the home of a friend. A trial is currently under way.

Despite Democratic Republic of Congo's first free, democratic elections last year, won by President Joseph Kabila, violence has continued in the eastern province of North Kivu.

Reuters AE RN2035