UN troops beef up Kinshasa security after clashes
Source: Reuters
(Adds comments from Bemba, Kabila aides) By David Lewis KINSHASA, Nov 12 (Reuters) - U.N. peacekeeping forces clamped a heavy security shield on Congo's capital Kinshasa on Sunday, a day after the riverside city was shaken by gunbattles linked to a historic but tense presidential election. The government said four people were killed in the fighting on Saturday between supporters and soldiers loyal to Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila and those of his election rival, Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba. The vast, former Belgian colony, which is struggling to emerge from years of violence and chaos, is awaiting the official result of their Oct. 29 run-off, due within a week. Returns filed by polling stations indicated Kabila leading with around 60 percent of the vote, while Bemba had 40 percent. Days before Saturday's fighting, Bemba's camp had complained of "systematic cheating" in the vote counting. The Independent Electoral Commission said there was no evidence to support this. But in a renewed challenge on Sunday, Bemba's campaign manager Fidel Babala said the vice-president's camp was sending another letter of complaint to the commission. "We may not respect the results if they don't take our complaints seriously," he said. Despite the continuing dispute, the streets of Kinshasa, which had echoed on Saturday to the sound of automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, were calm on Sunday. The guns fell silent after emergency talks between representatives of Kabila and Bemba and U.N. leaders of the world's biggest peacekeeping force, which is deployed in Congo. Blue-helmeted U.N. troops in white-painted armoured cars guarded main crossroads and offices and premises in Kinshasa used by Bemba, which were the scene of Saturday's fighting. Buildings bore the marks of fresh bullet holes. "This morning it is calm after yesterday's troubles. We have voted but we don't know how this will end. If these troubles continue, we will just keep on suffering," Isidore Tambu, a security guard outside a shop, told Reuters. KABILA LEADS Saturday's fighting erupted after police broke up a protest by Bemba supporters. According to polling station returns from 140 out of the country's 169 constituencies, Kabila has just under 60 percent of the vote, while Bemba has nearly 41 percent, diplomats said. They were computing these percentages from individual returns published on the election commission's Website, although the commission itself has not yet issued any certified totals. A senior Kabila aide said the protests by Bemba's supporters went against his promises to accept the final poll results. "If he doesn't ... he will have to be dealt with. Dealing with him will involve strong measures," the aide, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. A western diplomat said the U.N. forces, who are backed by a smaller European Union contingent, had seemed slow to react to Saturday's violence. "At the first sign of shooting they should intervene immediately," he said, asking not to be identified. U.N. and EU peacekeepers have stepped up patrols in recent weeks, hoping to avoid a repetition of August violence when Bemba's and Kabila's private armies fought fierce battles in Kinshasa in which some 30 people were killed. The Oct. 29 run-off, the deciding vote of the first free elections held in Congo in more than 40 years, was the culmination of a complex peace process following the end of Congo's 1998-2003 war. The conflict created a huge humanitarian crisis that has killed around 4 million people.
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