Congo's parliament approved on Wednesday a general amnesty for political crimes committed between 1996 and 2003, a period of unrest due to the 1998-2002 war in the country.

The amnesty, passed at Wednesday's parliamentary session, will be granted to those who committed politically-motivated killings and kidnappings during the unrest.

Legislators from Congo's ruling party did not attend the session, as they consider the amnesty as a move to protect the murderers of Congo's ex-President Laurent Kabila, who was assassinated in 2002.

The war, which broke out in Congo in 1998, killed more than 3 million people and forced nearly 4 million others to take refuge in nine neighboring countries.

Source: Xinhua