'13 killed' in Congo election violence

Thirteen people, including one soldier, were killed today in political violence as campaigning began for Congo’s first competitive elections in decades, a human rights worker said.

Demonstrators in the eastern city of Matadi attacked and killed the soldier before troops retaliated firing on the crowd, killing 12 civilians, said Christian Malidini, of Congo’s Association of Human Rights Defenders.

He had no further details.

The deaths were the first reported in the campaign ahead of a scheduled July 30 vote.

Nearly three dozen candidates are vying for the presidency and thousands for parliament in Congo’s first multiparty elections in 40 years, balloting for a government to take over from a transitional administration arranged in the wake of a 1998-2003 civil war that drew armies from neighbouring countries into the vast central African nation.

Fearing political clashes, the governor of the province that includes Kinshasa announced on state radio last night that all marches and demonstrations were banned in the city.

But groups of young men still took to otherwise deserted streets today, seeking to assemble to voice support for their candidates. Riot police swinging batons and firing weapons into the sky scattered the crowds. Most shops, banks and schools stayed closed.

Logistical and political problems had led to repeated delays in the voting. Congo’s elections were meant to be held in 2005, but have now been set for the end of the month.