DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Vote counting begins in Democratic Republic of Congo after presidential election

As Congo awaits the results of its elections, the ravaged country's future depends on the two candidates controlling their private armies and international peacekeepers stepping in fast to curb trouble. The period before and after results are announced will remain tense and risks degenerating, analysts and diplomats said, a day after millions voted in an election meant to end a decade of war and chaos. Some parents, not able to read or write sent their children to note down the results. Sunday's (October 29) poll between incumbent President Joseph Kabila and Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former rebel, was the last stage in years of negotiations following Democratic Republic of Congo's 1998-2003 war. The conflict sparked a humanitarian crisis that has killed four million people, with 1,200 still dying every day. Results have begun trickling in but so have rumours about who is winning. Analysts say it will take careful management to avoid clashes between former belligerents, who still have private armies in the capital. Following fighting in August that killed more than 30 people as first round results emerged, both camps have vowed to limit their soldiers' movements. The U.N., which has some 17,600 troops in Congo, has convinced Kabila and Bemba to sign commitments to follow the democratic process and respect the rights of the loser. But, with so much at stake and widespread reports that both sides have re-armed recently, some analysts are sceptical. Initial results confirmed Kabila's popularity in his native Swahili-speaking east while Bemba, as expected, is far ahead in Kinshasa, which speaks his Lingala language. Kabila is favourite to win after taking 45 percent in the first round. Fears of violence are tangible in the teeming capital, a Bemba stronghold, where many loathe the president and accuse him of selling off the country's vast wealth. The United Nations has its largest peacekeeping mission in Congo and it is backed by over 1,300 European Union soldiers, sent to secure the capital during the elections. After the August clashes, when they reacted slowly, the international forces are under pressure to intervene immediately, should either candidate use violence to challenge the process, which has already cost over $500 million.

ITN Source | October 31, 2006

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