In response to gun battles that erupted around the residence of ex-rebel leader and Democratic Republic of Congo presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba, the European Union is moving 400 extra troops to Kinshasa to try and quell the violence.
The BBC reports that 400 German and Dutch peacekeepers, who had been on standby in neighboring Gabon, would be flown to Kinshasa to help control the situation. They would join Spanish EU troops and members of the UN peacekeeping force in the capital. The UN has its largest peacekeeping force in the world, over 17,000 troops, in the Congo.
The BBC's Karen Allen says the EU troops' first task will be to secure the international airport, which has closed.
UN spokesman in DR Congo Kemal Saiki told BBC News it was too early to say whether the fighting called into question the second round of the elections. "The fighting could be contained, or it could expand," he said.
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The Associated Press reports that supporters of Mr. Bemba said troops loyal to President Joseph Kabila, the other candidate in the second-round presidential runoff, were attacking Bemba's house. The fighting started Monday, the day after the first round of elections was reported. European Union troops were forced to evacuate diplomats who had been trapped by the fighting.
A party spokesman said Bemba was evacuated from his house along with the foreign diplomats Monday, but troops continued to attack the candidate's house Tuesday. "They're still attacking the residence of Vice President Bemba," said Dully Sesanga, Congo's planning minister and spokesman for Bemba's party.
The envoys evacuated from Bemba's residence included the head of the UN's 17,500-troop peacekeeping mission, William Swing, and diplomats from the United States, France, China and other countries. UN spokesman Jean-Tobias Okala said 150 UN troops in 20 armored personnel took the diplomats from Bemba's home hours after they arrived for a meeting.
In an effort to stop the fighting, the Congolese army issued orders Monday for troops on both sides to lay down their weapons and return to their barracks. Agence-France Presse reports that since the fighting on Monday, UN armored cars have been stationed in front of Bemba's residence and along the Boulevard du 30 Juin, the capital's main street.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that Kabila gained 44.8 percent of the more than 16 million votes case, while Bemba had 20 percent. Other challengers accounted for the remaining votes. More than 70 percent of those eligible voted in the first round.
The Monitor also reports that the elections were the first free national vote in more than forty years in the former Belgian colony. Since no candidate won 50 percent of the vote, Kabila and Bemba will compete in a run-off on Oct. 29.
The BBC offers a backgrounder on the conflict in the Congo up to the present day.
- DR Congo's marginalized Pygmies see hope in polls (Reuters)
- 4 Ontario men accused of buying missiles for Tamil Tigers (The Toronto Star)
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- Italy considers withholding troops in Lebanon (Associated Press)
- Anti-Iraq war, pro-terror war (FoxNews.com)
Feedback appreciated. E-mail Tom Regan.
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