Congo's Kabila gives UN ultimatum on Bemba soldiers
Source: Reuters
(Recasts with Kabila ultimatum to U.N.) By David Lewis KINSHASA, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Congo President Joseph Kabila on Wednesday gave U.N. peacekeepers a 48-hour deadline to move an election rival's soldiers out of Kinshasa, or he would order the national army to do it, Congolese and U.N. officials said. The ultimatum strained an already tense situation in the riverside capital, which was shaken on Tuesday by a riot at the Supreme Court by supporters of former rebel chief Jean-Pierre Bemba, Kabila's challenger in an Oct. 29 presidential run-off. Bemba refuses to accept provisional results showing Kabila defeated him by 58.05 percent of the votes to his 41.95 percent in the historic Democratic Republic of Congo elections. He has filed a complaint to the Supreme Court, which must still confirm the election result for it to be valid. Congolese officials accuse soldiers loyal to Bemba of firing automatic weapons during Tuesday's riot, in which the Supreme Court was set ablaze and ransacked. Bemba's camp denies this. U.N. and Congolese officials said Kabila on Wednesday met William Swing, head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, and delivered the verbal ultimatum. "Kabila gave Swing 48 hours to get Bemba's soldiers out of town or let the army do it," a U.N. official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. "There was a clear message to Swing that the problem of Bemba's soldiers must be resolved," an official at the Congolese presidency said. He also asked not to be identified. As Congolese army troops guarded the streets of the capital, foreign diplomats worked to defuse the dispute following the elections, Congo's first free polls after more than 40 years of war, dictatorship and chaos. Congolese authorities have made clear they are angry over the apparent inability of the U.N. peacekeeping mission -- the biggest in the world at more than 17,500-strong -- to control Bemba's followers in Kinshasa, where he enjoys strong support. Bemba's and Kabila's supporters and soldiers have fought gunbattles in Kinshasa's streets in the past few months. COURT TO BE MOVED A spokesman for Bemba, who served as vice-president in Kabila's transitional government, said he was unaware of any ultimatum. "He is still vice-president and is therefore allowed to keep a bodyguard," Fidel Babala told Reuters. Tuesday's riot disrupted a hearing at the Supreme Court of the legal challenge made by Bemba. He alleges "systematic cheating" in the run-off, but electoral officials reject this. Officials said the court would be moved either to another place in Kinshasa or somewhere else upcountry. A U.N. spokesman said the disarmament of armed groups in Kinshasa had been discussed before, "but it is primarily the responsibility of the Congolese". "I don't think that we have a mandate to disarm these units in Kinshasa," U.N. mission spokesman Kemal Saiki added. Analysts said the riot raised questions about Bemba's intentions should the Supreme Court reject his complaint. "Outside the court, Bemba has two weapons: putting the people on the street and his own private militia. He is not likely to want to get rid of these leverages," said Jason Stearns of the International Crisis Group think-tank. He recommended a negotiated political deal between Kabila and Bemba, who led a rebel group in Congo's 1998-2003 war. The war triggered a humanitarian crisis that has killed more than 4 million Congolese through violence, hunger and disease. Humanitarian workers say over 1,000 still die each day.
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