Kabila calls for calm

Congo's president, Joseph Kabila, was declared winner of a historic election but he immediately called for calm after his rival complained of cheating.

Mr Kabila took about 58 per cent of the vote, compared with nearly 42 per cent for Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former rebel leader.

International observers have deemed the 29 October ballot largely free and fair, but supporters of Mr Bemba have alleged widespread fraud. On Saturday, his fighters battled police and troops loyal to Mr Kabila in the capital, Kinshasa, leaving three civilians and a soldier dead. Cheers and drumming erupted among supporters of Mr Kabila, 35, at Kinshasa's Grand Hotel last night, as he was named winner of the presidential run-off.

It is still unclear, however, whether Mr Bemba's supporters will accept the outcome.

Mr Kabila said the police and army remained loyal to him as president, suggesting security forces would not tolerate further trouble. But he held out an olive branch to his rival: "I believe vice-president Bemba and members of his party have a role to play, if not necessarily in government then in other institutions."

The election, which is meant to draw a line under a 15-year transition to democratic rule, and five years of civil war, has left the nation divided. However, there were fears of a backlash targeting foreigners in isolated parts of Mr Bemba's heartland of Equateur, where his Movement for the Liberation of Congo rebels still hold sway. United Nations troops were being rushed yesterday to the area.

Reuters