KINSHASA — Hundreds of Congolese demonstrators clashed with police in the capital yesterday, demanding the destruction of millions of spare ballot papers printed for historic elections later this month as another contingent of European monitors arrived in the city.

Riot police had detained several protesters and beat others with batons, a witness said. At least two demonstrators were bleeding from head wounds they said were caused by police.

Demonstrators distributed pamphlets in the names of more than half the 33 presidential candidates, who last week demanded the postponement of the polls scheduled for July 30 — the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first free elections in 40 years.

The candidates complained that 5-million spare ballot papers should be destroyed to prevent them being used to fix the poll results. The Congolese electoral commission says it needs the spare ballots in case any others are destroyed by accident.

Meanwhile, the BBC online reported yesterday that 10 people were sentenced to five years in jail for electoral fraud. Another 15000 are suspected of registering twice in Kisangani.

Yesterday, the latest contingent of German soldiers arrived in the country to serve with a European Union (EU) force of about 2000 troops, charged with supervising the landmark polls.

The EU soldiers — most of whom are from Germany and France — will back 17000 United Nations (UN) peacekeepers, the world’s largest peacekeeping force.

The mission, which is unpopular in Germany, will have a four-month mandate. About 100 German soldiers set up camp in Kinshasa last month to prepare the deployment.

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said during a visit to Kinshasa last week that the goal was to ensure that the elections went smoothly and to stabilise the war-ravaged country.

It is Germany’s first military foray into Africa since it contributed to a UN humanitarian relief operation in Somalia in 1993. Logistical challenges the German force faces include a lack of roads or railways linking one side of the country to the other.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told President Thabo Mbeki during his recent visit to Berlin that Germany supported the election and saw Congo as pivotal to regional peace.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, also in Berlin, on Monday urged the EU to make a long-term commitment to Congo.

Annan said in a speech after visiting the headquarters of the EU force in neighbouring Potsdam that the deployment “was more than just a political signal”.

“I hope the contribution of Germany and its European partners in Congo will not end there,” he said in remarks prepared for delivery at the Bertelsmann charitable foundation.

“Once the polls have closed, Congo’s international partners will have an important role to play in helping to build and implement a post-election strategy, helping the Congolese to reform their security sector, train their police force, and generally improve their governance.”

He said the international community must not repeat the mistakes made in other post-conflict situations in which a hasty pull-out left chaos in its wake.

The BBC reported yesterday that campaigning in the east had been hampered by instability as the UN and the Congolese army attempt to disarm rebels ahead of the polls.

In some cases candidates were required to get “permission” from Congolese militia to campaign in areas under their control. Reuters, Sapa-AFP, Foreign Staff