U.N. Calls for Cease-Fire In Congo; Violence Wanes

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Election-Related Violence Erupts in Congo
Battles between forces loyal to Congo's President Joseph Kabila and those of his main campaign rival raged on Monday, and U.N. peacekeepers safely evacuated foreign diplomats who had been trapped inside the challenger's besieged home when gunfire broke out.

KINSHASA, Congo, Aug. 22 -- The United Nations called for an immediate cease-fire Tuesday by rival army supporters of Congo's two presidential candidates, and three days of deadly fighting ebbed as the European Union sent reinforcements to the restive Central African nation.

At least 14 people have been reported killed in the clashes that began after officials announced that President Joseph Kabila had failed to win an outright majority in Congo's first multiparty balloting after 45 years of coups, corrupt rule and war. He will face former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba in a second round of voting.

Heavy gunfire rang out before dawn Tuesday and fighting raged for hours, then appeared to tail off after the United Nations, with 17,500 peacekeepers in Congo, demanded a halt to hostilities.

"The situation is calm. So far, the cease-fire is being respected," said Col. Thierry Fusalba, a spokesman for the E.U. force.

Witnesses said Kabila's presidential guards had withdrawn from outside Bemba's house, where the head of the U.N. mission, William Swing, and other diplomats were meeting with Bemba on Monday when fighting started outside the compound. E.U. and U.N. troops evacuated the foreign envoys.

Aides said Kabila ordered his loyalists back to their barracks and that Bemba, who is also a vice president in Kabila's national unity government, had done the same.

Bemba, who was in the protection of the United Nations, was not immediately available for comment. The world body said that the international troops would begin patrolling Kinshasa's streets alongside Congo's police Tuesday night.

Congo's war-battered people denounced the fighting, saying they wanted democracy over more armed struggle.

"They need to give people the voice -- that is why we had elections," said Rousse Intonda, 28 and unemployed, standing in the mostly empty streets after the battle near Bemba's house.

Swing, the chief of the U.N. peace mission in Congo, urged Kabila and Bemba to meet for talks.

A Bemba party spokesman said no meeting had been proposed, while a top Kabila aide said the two candidates had been in constant contact.

With 16.9 million votes cast in the July 30 balloting, Kabila won 45 percent and Bemba 20 percent, while the rest was divided among 31 other candidates.