A lava lake with a diameter of 300 meters glows at night in the crater of Nyiragongo volcano

A lava lake with a diameter of 300 meters glows at night in the crater of Nyiragongo volcano near Goma in Congo

Congolese soldier at the Virunga national park looks into a boiling lava lake in the crater of the Nyiragongo volcano

A Congolese soldier at the Virunga national park looks into a boiling lava lake in the crater of the Nyiragongo volcano

A Congolese soldier and guard for Virunga National Park carries his weapon

A Congolese soldier and guard for Virunga National Park carries his weapon along the rim of the smouldering crater of Nyiragongo volcano near Goma 

Best published photograph, Africa Business Reporting Awards 2009

Best published photograph, Africa Business Reporting Awards 2009.A gold miner pauses for a smoke while digging a pit at the Chudja mine in the Kilomoto concession near the village of Kobu, 100 km (62 miles) from Bunia in northeastern Congo, February 23, 2009. Civil conflict in Congo has been driven for more than a decade by the violent struggle for control over the country's vast natural resources, including gold, diamonds and timber, most of which is exploited using hard manual labour. 
Credit: REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly

Congo On the Wire

A Congolese government soldier wearing a wig smokes by the roadside near the front line, north of Goma in eastern Congo, November 11, 2008.

REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly



A severely malnourished infant hangs limp from her mother's back at a catholic mission feeding center in rebel-held Rutshuru, 70kms (50 miles) north of Goma in eastern Congo, November 13, 2008.

REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly



A Congolese government soldier lies with his weapon at the frontline near Kibati, north of Goma in eastern Congo, November 12, 2008.

REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly


A prisoner with bound wrists pleads while being beaten by government soldiers just outside Goma in eastern Congo, November 23, 2008.

REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly