afrol News, 22 March - Exchanges of heavy fire broke out between forces loyal to the former Vice President, opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, and the Congolese army in the capital Kinshasa.

Prior to the fighting, about 300 armed Congolese armed soldiers were deployed in Kinshasa's Gombe district area, where offices of the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister are located. The place is not also far from the residence of Mr Bemba.

Panicking by the deployment, residents of the area ran for their lives.

Services and businesses in the area have been halted as well.

Despite the heavy deployment of the UN's peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC), fighting erupted between the two rival forces after 600 guards of Mr Bemba refused to hand over their weapons to the regular forces.

Mr Bemba's guards were expected to return for integration in the national army on 15 March, but they refused because they fear their security. It is reported that the former rebel leader's forces refused to be part of the army but are still on the payroll of the state.

Mr Bemba, who served as Vice President in the transitional government, was a runner-up in Congo Kinshasa's first-ever democratic polls in 40 years and is now a senator who is mandated by a decree to be guarded by 15 policemen. Mr Bemba however claims the number is too small to guarantee his personal security.

The Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), Mr Bemba's party, is worried about the security of their leader.

President Joseph Kabila last year won the hotly-contested polls with 58 percent of the polls against Mr Bemba's 42 percent. The MLC leader, who refused to attend the inauguration ceremony of Mr Kabila, vowed to lead a strong opposition fight.

A Kinshasa court ruled against Mr Bemba's legal contest that the elections had been rigged in favour of President Kabila. The aftermath of both the first and the second round polls were punctuated with violence and death, involving supporters of the two candidates.

Mr Kabila first became President in 2001, following the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila, which made him the third non-elected Congolese head of state. He nevertheless agreed to head a transitional government including most rebel groups to end the Congolese civil war and head towards democratic elections.

Though the youngest head of state in Africa, Mr Kabila has a got a Herculean task of rebuilding Congo - a country where dictatorship, war, corruption, disease and famine had triumphed. His government's challenges include adding quality to education and health as well as convince its remaining rebel factions - especially those in the east - to lay down their arms.

President Kabila, who is by now seen as a unifying factor, has promised to be a leader of all of Congo's "people, without distinction", but controlling the various armed groups in the east may become a significant challenge.

He has assured that he would abide by "the trilogy of good governance, democracy and respect for human rights".

"A new page is opening up before us. I can see the Congo of tomorrow carrying the hopes of a renascent Africa at the dawn of this century with its great challenges," Mr Kabila said.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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