KINSHASA (Reuters) – Congo plans to push ahead with the country’s second-post war election on Monday, defying fears that a delay would be needed due to logistical problems and critics who called for the process to be reviewed because of irregularities.

After repeated delays, the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary vote turned violent in the capital at the weekend. Final rallies were cancelled due to clashes between rival supporters, security forces opened fire on crowds and the main presidential challenger was prevented from campaigning.

KINSHASA (Reuters) – Voting began in Congo’s second-post war election Monday after poll organizers defied fears that a delay would be needed to deal with logistical problems and critics who called for a review because of irregularities.

After repeated delays, the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary vote turned violent in the capital at the weekend. Final rallies were canceled due to clashes between rival supporters, security forces opened fire on crowds and the main presidential challenger was prevented from campaigning.

KINSHASA (Reuters) – Congo plans to push ahead with the country’s second-post war election on Monday, defying fears that a delay would be needed due to logistical problems and critics who called for the process to be reviewed because of irregularities.

After repeated delays, the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary vote turned violent in the capital at the weekend. Final rallies were canceled due to clashes between rival supporters, security forces opened fire on crowds and the main presidential challenger was prevented from campaigning.

KINSHASA (Reuters) – International organisations appealed for calm on the eve of a presidential election in Democratic Republic of Congo already tainted by deadly street clashes and a showdown between security forces and the main opposition candidate.

The European Union and the United Nations called for restraint after at least three people were killed in clashes on Saturday, the last day of campaigning, putting in doubt the central African state’s ability to ensure a representative vote in its second post-war presidential contest on November 28.

KINSHASA (Reuters) – Police in Congo blocked President Joseph Kabila’s main rival at an airport in Kinshasa on Saturday to stop him staging an election rally after at least two died in violence across the central African state’s capital city.

Two days before presidential and parliamentary elections, rival factions hurled rocks at each other and gunfire was heard across town.

KINSHASA (Reuters) – Police in Kinshasa banned all campaign rallies on Saturday after rival supporters hurled rocks at each other and at least one person was reported dead as tensions rose two days before presidential and parliamentary elections.

Riot police in the Congolese capital used tear gas to disperse a political gathering in the city centre and one person was injured as presidential guard members fired shots to clear opposition supporters from the airport, Reuters reporters said.

KINSHASA (Reuters) – Riot police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Saturday as campaigning by rival groups drew to a close two days before presidential and parliamentary elections, Reuters reporters said.

There were bouts of rock-throwing between opposing supporters and brief bursts of gunfire, the reporters said. Citing local health and security officials, a United Nations source said at least one person had died but there was no official confirmation of the death or its circumstances.

KINSHASA (Reuters) – Congo’s election due on Monday will test the giant country’s tentative steps towards recovery after decades of upheaval, but rushed last-minute preparations have raised fears of a chaotic vote and a disputed outcome.

At stake in the presidential and parliamentary votes is the readiness of mineral-rich Congo to turn a page on years of war and fulfil its potential as a motor for economic growth at the crossroads of eastern, central and southern Africa.

DAKAR (Reuters) – A complex mosaic of nations, tribes and militants is hampering strategies by African and Western nations to staunch the flow of weapons and fighters south from the civil war in Libya into the Sahara-Sahel region.

Libya’s civil war and the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule has pumped more weapons and men into an already volatile mix of local rebels, cross-border criminals and Islamists in the remote desert regions of Mali, Niger and Mauritania.

DAKAR (Reuters) – A complex mosaic of nations, tribes and militants is hampering strategies by African and Western nations to staunch the flow of weapons and fighters south from the civil war in Libya into the Sahara-Sahel region.

Libya’s civil war and the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule has pumped more weapons and men into an already volatile mix of local rebels, cross-border criminals and Islamists in the remote desert regions of Mali, Niger and Mauritania.