http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16858058.htm

[KINSHASA, 16 November 2006] - UN troops and local police confronted stone-throwing youths in Congo's capital on Thursday as they deployed in force to prevent violence after President Joseph Kabila was declared the winner of historic elections.

Kabila's rival, Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, disputes his win, announced late on Wednesday by electoral officials, in Democratic Republic of Congo's Oct. 29 presidential run-off.

UN soldiers from the world's biggest peacekeeping force swung into action in Kinshasa to avoid a repeat of past deadly gunbattles between Bemba's and Kabila's supporters.

But apart from small pockets of protest, most of Congo's sprawling riverside capital appeared quiet, albeit tense, on Thursday under the visibly heavy international security operation by U.N. and European Union peacekeepers.

In a provisional result still to be confirmed by the Supreme Court, the 35-year-old incumbent president was declared the winner of Congo's first free polls in more than 40 years. They were aimed at leaving behind years of chaos and violence in the vast, mineral-rich former Belgian colony.

Supporters of Bemba, a former rebel chief, are contesting the result. They have denounced "systematic cheating".

Groups of angry pro-Bemba youths turned out on Thursday to stone passing cars outside Bemba's official residence, while others barricaded a road outside a pro-Bemba TV station.

Congolese police arrested some youths and fired at least one tear gas canister. UN forces positioned several armoured vehicles between the police and the protesters.

Other UN vehicles and truckloads of blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers patrolled the streets and guarded strategic points, as European Union military helicopters clattered overhead.

UN officials and foreign governments hailed last month's vote as a major milestone in Congo's bid to build a new era of stability and prosperity following the end of a 1998-2003 war that devastated the country.

"We are living new days. Congo is a different country than it was yesterday. This is uncharted territory but on the basis of what we've seen and the work that's been done, we are not pessimistic," Ross Mountain, deputy head of the U.N. mission, told Reuters.

FEAR OF BEMBA BACKLASH

"It is vital the international community maintains its support," Mountain added.

The electoral commission said Kabila had won 58.05 percent of the votes against 41.95 percent for Bemba.

Western and African governments, which have been monitoring Congo's turbulent post-war transition, appealed for calm and said any challenge to the election result must be peaceful and follow legal channels.

Some Kinshasa residents said they feared the electoral commission's announcement could trigger a violent response from Bemba's camp.

"They did it before they answered Bemba's complaints. This is not good. We fear that they (Bemba's supporters) might react. They are armed bandits, they are dangerous, but they have the support of the city, not just these angry young people," Andre, a civil servant who only gave his first name, told Reuters.

The vote was the culmination of a peace process to end Congo's 1998-2003 war, which spawned a humanitarian crisis that has killed 4 million people. Aid workers estimate 1,200 still die daily from violence, hunger and disease.

Soldiers loyal to the two rival candidates fought days of street battles in August in which at least 30 people died. Four more were killed last Saturday when the two sides clashed again.

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• 15/11/2006: Bombes à fragmentation: Audience à la Cour Européenne des Droits de l'Homme dans l’affaire Behrami c. France
• 15/11/2006: Festival of hope and care
• 15/11/2006: RD Congo: Opération rues propres à Kinshasa - 350 enfants des rues raflés et déportés hors de la capiltale
• 14/11/2006: Hundreds of thousands raped in Congo wars

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Last updated 16/11/2006 08:38:35

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