Opposition candidates call on Congo to annul vote (AP)

KINSHASA, Congo ? Four candidates urged officials to annul Congo's presidential election, citing concerns about fraud as voters were given a third day Wednesday to cast ballots because of problems at polling stations.

The vote, which began Monday and is only Congo's second since civil war ended in 2003, presented enormous logistical challenges from the start. Less than 2 percent of the country's roads are paved. Some districts are so remote that ballot boxes had to be transported across muddy trails on the heads of porters, and by dugout canoe across churning rivers.

But even in the country's capital, there were reports of polling stations running of out ballots or never even receiving them. Election officials extended voting by a second day Tuesday, and again on Wednesday to give people more time to vote.

President Joseph Kabila faces 10 opponents and three of them signed a declaration Wednesday calling for the results to be annulled even before they are announced.

"In a democratic and peaceful manner, we will be the first to contest these fraudulent elections if nothing is done by (the U.N. mission) MONUSCO and the international community to correct or annul this disgraceful poll," Vital Kamerhe, one of the candidates, said in an open letter.

Election commission Daniel Ngoy Mulunda announced the second extension of the voting late Tuesday. He said that more than 99 percent of voting districts had functioned normally, and that only 485 out of 61,380 polling stations had been unable to complete voting.

"We have authorized the voting bureaus to stay open due to the late arrival of voting materials," he said. "The election will continue tomorrow."

The vote is the first to be organized by the Congolese government instead of the international community. The election was supposed to mark another step toward peace, but if the results are not accepted by the population, especially the country's fractured opposition, analysts fear it could drag Congo back into conflict.

Congo's territory straddles an area the size of the United States east of the Mississippi ? over 1.4 million square miles, much of it covered by rainforest. The vast forest in the country's east is still inhabited by militias and rebel groups responsible for attacks villages and raping civilians.

Congo is also in a race against the clock because the incumbent's term expires next week, and the country could face more unrest if he is seen as staying past his constitutional mandate.

Kabila is widely expected to win re-election since the opposition is split among 10 candidates, including 79-year-old Etienne Tshisekedi, a longtime opposition leader who is running for president for the first time.

Kabila was first thrust into the position of president a decade ago, after the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila, the rebel leader who toppled the country's dictator of 32 years, Mobutu Sese Seko.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111130/ap_on_re_af/af_congo_election

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