Sources: Congolese President Shot Dead

Jan. 16 -- President Laurent Kabila has died following reports that he had been shot during an apparent coup attempt, U.S. and European officials said today.

Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koen Vervaeke said in Brussels that "two sources, of whom we are 100 percent certain" said Kabila had been killed during the intense 30-minute shooting at his palatial residence in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a former Belgian colony that was also formerly known as Zaire.

"He has probably been shot by one of his guards," Vervaeke said.

He said the sources told the Belgian government Kabila died after being hit by two bullets. "The circumstances are too confused to know more," Vervaeke told Reuters.

The Belgian officials gave no further information, and the report could not be confirmed in Kinshasa. French Foreign Ministry officials also said that Kabila wasdead, but gave no further details.

A senior U.S. administration official also confirmed the report. The official told ABCNEWS: "The violence is regrettable and this is not the way change should be obtained. It remains important to us to continue the peace process."

Congo's Interior Minister Gaetan Kakudji refused to comment on the situation. "The Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs can say what he wants but I will make my announcement tomorrow," Kakjudi said.

Conflicting Reports

Kabila's government would not elaborate publicly on its president's condition, or even whether he'd been shot.

"President Kabila is alive and everything is OK," said Congolese Gen. Francois Olenga.

The conflicting reports came hours after witnesses described gunfire around the home of Kabila, who has been fighting multiple rebel armies for more than two years. It was unclear who was responsible for the shooting.

A presidential helicopter landed at Kinshasa's main hospital, a government official who witnessed the event said, adding there were unconfirmed reports that the aircraft was carrying Kabila's son, Joseph Kabila, who had apparently been injured. The younger Kabila is the head of Congo's military.