27 Nov 2011

DR Congo police ban election rallies

Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have blocked President Joseph Kabila's main rival at an airport in Kinshasa. The authorities stopped Etienne Tshisekedi from staging an election rally after at least three people died in violence across DRC's capital city during campaign rallies.

congo elections

The violence broke out when security forces used tear gas and live fire to disperse those attending campaign rallies. Two days before presidential and parliamentary elections, rival factions hurled rocks at each other and gunfire was heard across town on Saturday. Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from Kinshasa, said "thousands of supporters" had tear gas fired on them, adding that the "feeling among the opposition is that this is a sign of how popular the opposition are and that Kabila can't win Monday's elections".

Daniel Howden, Africa correspondent for the UK newspaper The Independent, said on Twitter: "Live rounds and tear gas" were being used "at large crowds in Kinshasa airport". The violence was the latest sign of tension in the run-up to Congo's second election since a 1998-2003 war, a poll which has been marked by opposition allegations of irregularities and concerns about inadequate preparations.

Al Jazeera English

Profiles of Kabila, Tshisekedi and Kamerhe on BBC