Congo's Bemba to remain in Portugal amid safety fears

KINSHASA, June 9 (Reuters) Congolese opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba will remain in self-imposed exile in Portugal and not return to Congo as planned amid fears for his safety, an advisor to the former rebel chief said today.

Bemba, elected a senator after losing landmark presidential elections in 2006, was granted a 60-day leave of absence by the Senate leadership in early April to seek medical treatment in Portugal after heavy fighting between his personal guard and government troops in Kinshasa which killed hundreds of people.

Bemba left Democratic Republic of Congo on April 11 after nearly three weeks holed up in the South African embassy, claiming troops loyal to President Joseph Kabila were trying to kill him.

''He is not coming back today,'' Fidel Babala told Reuters, adding that necessary measures to ensure Bemba's security had not been put in place.

''You saw what happened in March. What is there to ensure that doesn't happen again?'' he said.

Fighting erupted March 22 after fighters loyal to Bemba, who headed the rebel Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) during a 1998-2003 war, defied an army order to report for reintegration and demobilisation.

Reuters AE GC1753