Congo's Kabila vows war on graft, end to violence

KINSHASA, Dec 6 (Reuters) Joseph Kabila took office today as Congo's first democratically elected president in over four decades, pledging to combat the corruption and violence that have crippled his resource-rich nation.

Cheered by thousands of singing, dancing, flag-waving supporters, Kabila was sworn in during a colourful but heavily guarded ceremony in Kinshasa in the gardens of the presidential palace on the banks of the Congo river.

The 35-year-old former guerrilla commander, who became the unelected leader of Democratic Republic of Congo in 2001 after his president father was assassinated, won a five-year mandate through the ballot box in a tense October 29 presidential run-off.

As he took the oath before members of the Supreme Court to defend the constitution and national unity, the youthful president carried the high expectations for peaceful change of a country tormented by years of war, dictatorship and chaos.

''A new page is opening up before us. I can see the Congo of tomorrow carrying the hopes of a renascent Africa at the dawn of this century with its great challenges,'' he said in a speech.

Kabila vowed to base his rule on ''the trilogy of good governance, democracy and respect for human rights''.

This promise was likely to please the international community which has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain the world's biggest UN peacekeeping force in Congo and organise this year's historic elections.

He also pledged to make fighting corruption a priority in a country whose huge mineral riches -- copper, gold, cobalt, diamonds, uranium and timber -- have so far brought more conflict and suffering than development to ordinary Congolese.

Congo is still struggling to heal the wounds of a 1998-2003 war and Kabila said another priority would be ending violence, especially in the volatile east where renegade militia and rebel bands ''have not yet understood that times have changed''.

UN peacekeepers killed more than 150 rebels in heavy fighting in the east last week.

BEMBA ABSENT In a country that has seen so much violence, security was tight in Kinshasa. Heavily armed soldiers of the presidential guard, wearing black uniforms and beige berets, protected the palace and patrolled the streets of the riverside capital.

After military cannons had boomed out a ceremonial salute, the Congolese president was congratulated by foreign dignitaries, including several African heads of state, local traditional chiefs and by members of his transition government.

One major absentee from the celebrations was Kabila's defeated election challenger, former rebel chief and Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, who did not attend the ceremony.

His initial refusal to accept Kabila's victory had raised fears of renewed violence in Kinshasa, where soldiers of the two rivals fought fierce gunbattles in recent months.

But Bemba, who had denounced ''systematic cheating'' in the vote counting, has since said he will go into political opposition in the interests of national peace.

Bemba supporters in Kinshasa said they felt Kabila had been fraudulently elected. ''So be it. We bow down, but we'll be watching to see what he achieves. In five years' time, we'll give our verdict,'' said Norbert Kabuya.

The elections crowned a peace process ending Congo's most recent war which triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises that has already killed some four million people. More than 1,000 Congolese still die every day from violence, hunger and disease, humanitarian workers say.

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