Talks aimed at salvaging a plan to bring peace to the Democratic Republic of the Congo failed when 10 African presidents meeting in Zambia went home without reaching a deal.

The main goals of the talks had been to come to an accord to stop the fighting and allow for UN peacekeepers to be deployed.

They broke down over Congolese President Laurent Kabila's refusal to compromise on the deployment of 5,537 UN observers and troops. The mandate for the deployment from the Security Council is up for renewal at the end of this month and Kabila's obstruction likely means it will be suspended.

Kabila also refused to accept former Botswana president Sir Ketumile Masire as a facilitator for talks between Kabila and Congolese rebels.

In a communique issued at the end of the summit early Tuesday, leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) issued a veiled threat of sanctions if Kabila won't alter his positions.

Fighting in Congo broke out in August 1998. Rwanda- and Uganda-backed rebels accused Kabila of corruption. They also said he harboured Hutu militiamen after they fled Rwanda following the genocide there in 1994.

A ceasefire was signed last year between Congo and its allies Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, and Rwanda, Uganda and the rebels, but fighting has intensified since then.