Central Congo Polls Open for Extra Day

Election volunteers take a nap as they wait for cast ballots to arrive at a central election processing station in Kinshasa, Monday July 31, 2006. Congolese voted Sunday in their first democratic election in more than four decades, many hoping for an end to years of fighting and corrupt rule that have devastated the mineral-rich nation in the heart of Africa. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) (Jerome Delay - AP)

The Congolese Liberation Movement decried alleged "irregularities" across the country. But a Bemba representative said that if the election was deemed transparent, his party would respect the results.

The winner must garner an outright majority of all votes. Though first results are not expected for weeks, various groups were trying to independently determine who won.

The restive country is still seething from years of war, and electoral commission Chairman Appolinaire Malu-Malu called for restraint in declaring the outcome based on unofficial tallies.

"Be modest in your declarations," he said at a news conference. "Don't fool the population."

Bemba was one of the front-runners in the campaign, portraying himself as the true son of Congo while his main rival and current president, Joseph Kabila, was born in exile in neighboring Rwanda.

Several leading candidates are former rebels who still command private armed militias, and could pose a real threat to peace after the elections.

There were 33 candidates running in the presidential race, and another 9,000 contenders for the 500-seat legislature.

Wars that raged in the country from 1998-2002 attracted troops from eight nations seeking to control vast mineral resources including diamonds, copper, gold and coltan, used for cellphone chips.

Military strongman Mobutu Sese Seko took power and reunited the nation after democratically elected Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was assassinated in 1961. Mobutu led the nation he called Zaire as a personal fiefdom for 32 years, using its mineral riches to fatten foreign bank accounts said to hold $4 billion when he died after being ousted by armed rebellions in 1997.