DRC presidential rivals to meet
2006-08-26 18:04
Kinshasa - The Democratic Republic of Congo's two presidential candidates said separately on Saturday that they had agreed to meet each other after three days of clashes between their forces.
Twenty-three people have been killed in the clashes.
President Joseph Kabila said he had agreed to a meeting with his four vice presidents, including his closest rival, Jean-Pierre Bemba, said a presidency spokesperson.
The international community has been pressuring Kabila and Bemba to meet face-to-face, after the publication of first round presidential election results on Sunday sparked three days of fierce fighting in Kinshasa.
The provisional results showed Kabila had won 44.8% of the vote against 20% for Bemba, sending the two men into a second round run-off scheduled for October 29.
A presidency spokesperson said the meeting with Kabila and his vice presidents would take place on Saturday afternoon, but Bemba's office said they had not been informed of the gathering.
'We are not warlords in Somalia'
Secretary-general of Bemba's Congo Liberation Movement (MLC), Francois Muamba, said Bemba was in favour of a face-to-face meeting but suggested it took place under the supervision of the United Nations peacekeeping force Monuc.
He said the meeting must have a well-prepared agenda, as there were a number of issues to be discussed.
"Why was Mr Bemba's life threatened? How do we prevent such things from happening again? What steps must be taken by one side or the other in order to accept the second round results and so that people don't shoot at each other?" said Muamba.
Kabila's camp, however, shied away from a one-to-one meeting.
"We mustn't artificially create a face-to-face as though there are two warlords, two mafia clans like in Somalia," said Lambert Mende, the deputy permanent secretary of Kabila's Presidential Majority Alliance (AMP).
"This is about the president of the republic and one of his vice presidents."