Congo holds poll to end decades of war and pillage

KINSHASA, Oct 29: Congo voted today in a presidential run-off vote intended to end decades of war, pillage and kleptocracy that have left the huge country devastated and poor despite its mineral riches.

A pre-dawn thunderstorm turned Kinshasa's streets into rivers and slowed voting when polling stations opened at 6 a.m.

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As heavy rain lashed down all morning, turnout seemed far lower than at the same time in the first round on July 30.

The sprawling capital is a stronghold of former warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba, who faces incumbent Joseph Kabila. A low turnout could hurt Bemba.

''The turnout appears to be relatively low, even in the east where it was very high last time around,'' said a European Union observer who asked not to be named.

''All seems to be calm ... but for now there does appear to be a rather weak participation,'' a Western diplomat said.

Isidor Kaombe waited impatiently at a Kinshasa poll station that opened late because of the rain. ''We need this vote to put an end to the mess. With God's help we will,'' he said.

Thousands of miles (km) away in eastern Congo, where polls opened an hour earlier because of a time difference, voters queued patiently in the Ituri district, ravaged by war.

Jules Katasko, 34, could not hold back a smile as he walked away after pushing his paper into the bright orange ballot box in the town of Bunia: ''For most of my life we had Mobutu Sese Seko, a dictator. He said 'Yes', we all had to do it; he said 'No', we all had to stop it. Now it's us who decide whether it's 'Yes' or 'No'.'' About 25 million Congolese are registered to vote.

The election, the country's first democratic poll 40 years, are being accompanied by provincial elections. Results are not expected for up to three weeks.

PEACE PROCESS

The election is the final step in a peace process after five years of the bloodiest conflict since World War Two. More than 4 million people died in the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the war, which ended in 2003, and 1,200 still perish every day. Thousands of gunmen roam the country.

Another voter in Bunia, 44-year-old Rachael Orocha, told Reuters: ''This isn't a happy day for me.

''Two of my children died of hunger, militiamen destroyed my home -- I've lost everything because of this war. I'm voting because we are sick of it. Something big has to change.'' As she spoke, UN peacekeepers patrolled the streets in armoured personnel carriers while a helicopter watched overhead.

At a polling station in a Kinshasa school, an elderly man, Jean Ntando, was voting with his wife. ''I haven't voted since independence, so even if it is raining I had to come,'' he said, hitching up his trousers as he walked back into the flood.

Kabila received 45 per cent of the votes in the first round on July 30 and is expected to win the poll.

Some 60 million people hope the election will end their suffering and enable the country to fulfil its rich potential.

But there are widespread fears it will spark more bloodshed instead of ushering in peace and reconstruction.

Supporters of Kabila and Bemba have clashed several times since the first round, and in August their private armies fought three days of battles in the capital. More than 30 people died.

They have brought in more arms and reinforcements since then. Bemba is believed to have 600 fighters in the chaotic capital, where Kabila is widely detested, and the president has 5,000 members of his personal guard in the city.

Kabila is the son of the assassinated president Laurent Kabila, who overthrew the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, perpetrator of 32 years of kleptocratic rule.

REUTERS