United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged the two
leading candidates in Congo's presidential elections to meet and
put an end to the recent violence, a spokesman said in United
Nations Tuesday.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric quoted reports by the UN
Department of Peacekeeping Operations that relative calm has been
restored in the capital Kinshasa after Monday's violent incidents
between supporters of President Joseph Kabila and Vice President
Jean Pierre Bemba.
He said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General,
William Lacy Swing, and a dozen members of the Committee in Support
of the Transition were meeting inside when shooting occurred
between supporters of President Joseph Kabila and Vice-President
Jean-Pierre Bemba.
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Secretary-General Annan phoned the two candidates to demand an
immediate end to the violence, as well as the safe evacuation of
the diplomats and civilian personnel trapped inside the residence,
according to the spokesman.
"The Secretary-General urged both Kabila and Bemba to meet
immediately to resolve the situation in a peaceful manner," said
Dujarric.
Some 150 UN peacekeepers in armored personnel carriers brought
Special Representative William Swing and the other officials to
safety, Dujarric said, adding that UN and European Union
peacekeepers later deployed to Bemba's residence and elsewhere in
Kinshasa to ensure public order and safety.
Meanwhile, Swing continued his efforts to broker peaceful talks
between the parties to help secure an agreement to stop the
shooting.
According to provisional results of last month's elections
released by UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo on
Sunday, Kabila won 45 percent of the vote, while Bemba garnered
20percent. The two candidates are scheduled to face off in a second
round on Oct. 29.
The historic parliamentary and presidential elections on July 30
were the war-torn country's first since the former Zaire won
independence from Belgium 46 years ago.
(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2006)
