| 02/07/2005 |
| Congo opposition vows more pressure after protests |
Reuters
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KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congo's opposition pledged on Friday to pressure the government to quit, a day after at least one person was killed when security forces clashed with protesters angry at delays to post-war elections.
A U.N. spokesman said police used excessive force to break up the protests, which were triggered by the government's failure to organise elections by the end of June, as laid out by a 2003 peace deal to end a devastating five-year war.
"We are calling for resistance from the population," said Remy Masamba, secretary general of the main Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) opposition party.
"This is not a call for violence. We are not calling for anarchy. We just say that the Congolese people, led by the UDPS, must maintain the pressure on the streets," he said.
On Thursday, security forces used live bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters in the sprawling capital Kinshasa, where two years of peace have done little to improve people's lives.
There has been scant economic progress in the resource-rich nation since the war ended and the government has failed to impose its authority over vast areas of the east, where armed gangs pillage and kill with impunity.
Riot police and soldiers patrolled dilapidated Kinshasa on Friday. U.N. troops drove around the city in white armoured personnel carriers and a U.N. helicopter hovered overhead.
Kemal Saiki, spokesman for the United Nations mission, said casualties on Thursday were lower than feared, with one person confirmed dead and 21 injured. Around 455 people were arrested.
"There were instances where (police) appear to have panicked and used their firearms," he said.
The UDPS said on Thursday 10 people were killed in Kinshasa, with several more deaths across the former Belgian colony.
"You could see yesterday that those in power were afraid," said Jean-Joseph Mukendi, a UDPS official.
Government wrangling, logistical delays and fighting in the east were behind the election delay. Some Congolese also suspect politicians are procrastinating to keep the perks of power.
Congo's war killed around four million people, mainly from conflict-related hunger and disease. Killings continue in the east despite the presence in Congo of some 16,000 peacekeepers, the biggest U.N. peacekeeping mission in the world.
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