Washington — President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is to visit the United States this week for talks here and at the United Nations, officials said Monday.

The 29-year-old Kabila, who succeeded his murdered father, Laurent- Desire Kabila, as president only last week, is to begin his two-day visit in Washington on Thursday, where he will attend an annual prayer breakfast sponsored by Congress, then meet with US officials, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

"President Kabila will have meetings with administration officials," Boucher told reporters, but offered no specifics as to whom he would meet.

He said Washington would press Kabila to follow through on the Lusaka Accords, the agreement reached in the Zambian capital in 1999 to end the on-going civil war in the DRC.

"We believe that [the Lusaka Accords] are the best route to peace and reconciliation for the Congo," he said, adding that adherence to the Lusaka agreement would be the "fundamental" message delivered to Kabila by US officials.

The DRC conflict pits the government, backed by Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia, against rebels supported by Uganda and Rwanda.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame is also expected in Washington this week, but Boucher said it was not clear whether he would hold any official meetings at the State Department.

US President George W. Bush last week sent Kabila a letter of condolence following his father's death.

After Washington, Kabila is to travel to New York for talks with UN chief Kofi Annan and other diplomats at the world body, officials there said.

Other sources said Rwanda's Kagame and South African President Thabo Mbeki will also attend the meeting, although the other party in the conflict, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, isn't attending.