Riot police deploy outside the Supreme Court building in Kinshasa, Congo, as the nation awaits the court's ruling on the legality of declared results for the Oct. 29 presidential elections. AP PHOTO

Jean-Pierre Bemba had declared Nov. 16 that he would "use all legal avenues to ensure the will of the people is respected," indicating he would not enlist the hundreds of fighters he has in the capital to contest the ballot by force. The pledge was seen as crucial for averting violence.

Bemba ruled his own private fiefdom in northern Congo during the war and became one of four vice presidents in a transitional government. He won an overwhelming number of votes in Kinshasa and western Congo but received only 42 percent of the overall vote, compared with 58 percent for President Joseph Kabila, according to the Independent Electoral Commission.

Dozens of Bemba supporters chanting "Bemba is our president, not Kabila" marched a few blocks from the ex-rebel chief's residence to the Supreme Court building, which was guarded by riot police and U.N. peacekeepers posted in armored cars nearby.

The Japan Times Weekly: Nov. 25, 2006
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