DR Congo opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi dies aged 84

DR Congo's main opposition leader has died in Brussels
 aged 84, reports say.

Etienne Tshisekedi, one of the country's most important
advocates of democracy, was a prominent opponent of
successive Congolese leaders.

The party he helped found in 1982, the Union for
 Democracy and Social Progress party (UDPS), said 
he had travelled to Belgium last week for medical checks.

He was due to head a transitional council under a deal
 for President Joseph Kabila to step down this year.

Mr Tshisekedi served as a minister under autocratic ruler Mobutu Sese Seko in the country then known as Zaire 
before helping to set up the UDPS.

During the 1990s he was named prime minister four times
 but did not remain in the position after clashing with 
Mobutu, who was eventually forced out in 1997.

His activism meant he remained popular but in recent 
years he had been suffering ill health.