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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
DRC: Guns silenced with a ceasefire
KINSHASA, 23 Aug 2006 (IRIN) - Bodies are still lying in the streets of Kinshasa and pillaging continues in some neighbourhoods but a ceasefire reached late on Tuesday between President Joseph Kabila and Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba seems to be holding.
"All troops have moved back to their earlier position," William Swing, the Special Representative for the United Nations Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said on Wednesday in Kinshasa, the capital.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Kabila and Bemba agreed to cede control of parts of the city to the national police force and have verification teams monitor their compliance. Each verification team would comprise officials from the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC), the European Union’s military force and police, the national army and Bemba’s and Kabila's guards.
"We are reassured by the initial findings of the two teams after they returned to us last night [Tuesday]," Swing said.
Cars and pedestrians returned to Kinshasa on Wednesday for the first time in two days.
However, the governor of Kinshasa, Kibembe Mazunga, said the Red Cross had not been able to enter the battle zones to count the corpses. "We have registered a number of people in the general hospital who are seriously injured," he added.
The chief of staff of the Congolese armed army, Gen Kisempia Sungilanga, said six people had been killed when the fighting began on Sunday, two hours before the Independent Electoral Commission issued preliminary election results, as Bemba was on his way to his television station to deliver a statement.
Fighting continued, with UN and Congolese armoured vehicles patrolling the streets. On Monday, members of Kabila's presidential guard laid siege to Bemba’s property, where he was meeting ambassadors.
Kabila won 45 percent of the national vote but 50 percent is needed to avoid a run-off. In Kinshasa, Kabila secured less than 20 percent of the vote, against Bemba's 50 percent.
A second round is scheduled for 29 October.
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This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
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