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DR Congo

DRC: Congo presidential rivals call for calm

By David Lewis

KINSHASA, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Congo's presidential contenders have called on their supporters to remain calm and avoid violence as the vast country awaits the results of a historic but tense post-war election.

President Joseph Kabila and Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba issued the joint statement late on Tuesday following their first meeting since an Oct. 29 vote to see who would become Congo's first democratically elected president in over 40 years.

The rivals again vowed not to challenge the results of the poll by force but the capital remains tense. International peacekeepers are on high alert after fighting erupted between their private armies following the first round of voting.

U.N. and EU peacekeepers have bolstered their presence in Kinshasa, digging in behind sandbags in the city centre and stepping up foot patrols and air surveillance by helicopters.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's polls are meant to be the culmination of years of negotiations and transitional government after the former Belgian colony's 1998-2003 war, which has killed over four million people, mostly from hunger and disease.

"President Joseph Kabila and Vice President Bemba call on the population to remain calm, respect the institutions and laws of the nation and avoid acts of provocation and violence," the joint statement said.

The two men met for half an hour behind closed doors at Kabila's riverside presidential palace, built by former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko who ruled the country, then known as Zaire, for more than three decades.

"They once again promise to accept the results of the vote, denounce all attempts to challenge the results through force (and) agitate the population ...," the statement said.

FAILURE TO DISARM

With 2 million ballots counted, or less than a tenth of the electorate, Kabila held nearly 70 percent of the vote. Diplomats cautioned it was too early to predict anything, as a large share of the votes counted came from the Swahili-speaking east where Kabila holds strong support.

Kabila's camp has recognised Bemba's strong poll showing had made him a key political interlocutor. A senior presidency source told Reuters: "There is now the understanding that Bemba is no longer just a rebel leader, but that he is a political machine with some real backing."

Dozens were killed during three days of fighting in August, during which Kabila's presidential guard deployed tanks in the city centre to fight against Bemba's red bandana-clad bodyguard.

The clashes highlighted the failure of attempts to force many of Congo's former belligerents to disband their fighters and integrate them into the national army.

Kabila's bodyguard in the capital is believed to number some 6,000. Bemba has over 600 men under his direct command.

Following the fighting, under intense pressure from the international community, which has invested billions of dollars in peacekeeping and over $500 million in the elections, both sides have signed numerous agreements promising calm.

"The two personalities reconfirm their commitment to respect the various agreements aimed at ensuring calm and transparency that were signed by their representatives," the statement said.

But few concrete steps have been taken to demilitarise the capital and there are widespread reports both sides have re-armed following the clashes.