3 000 flee DRC fearing post-poll violence
2011-12-04 23:16
Brazzaville - About 3 000 people have fled Kinshasa for Brazzaville, the capital of neighbouring Congo, fearing violence after elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an immigration official said Sunday.
"The number of people who arrived yesterday and today has crossed 3 000," said an immigration official in Brazzaville which lies on the other side of the Congo river from Kinshasa.
The official provided the figure to Congolese Interior Minister Zephirin Mboulou, who however stressed that it was not a "declared crisis situation".
Monday's vote, just the second since back-to-back wars that gripped the DRC from 1996 to 2003, was marred by deadly rebel attacks and rioting, and the long wait for results has been filled with tensions.
President Joseph Kabila's chief rival, the veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, said on Saturday he rejected early results showing the incumbent in the lead and warned that any "suicidal acts" by the government or the poll body would be matched with a response from his supporters.
