CONGO: A fire started by supporters of defeated presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba has extensively damaged the Congolese supreme court here in the capital after a protest outside the building yesterday turned violent.
Up to 200 supporters of Mr Bemba gathered outside the court as it started hearing the former rebel leader's challenge to provisional election results, announced last Wednesday.
Those results handed victory in the presidential run-off to incumbent president Joseph Kabila, with 58 per cent of the vote, a result rejected by Mr Bemba's camp, amid allegations of fraud on a massive scale and "an electoral hold up".
Congolese riot police came under fire from armed elements in the crowd after they used tear gas to break up the protest at around 11.30am.
Demonstrators then fell back to Mr Bemba's nearby residence, followed by police, who again fired tear gas on the crowd.
Armed bodyguards protecting Mr Bemba's home then opened fire on police, in a repeat of an incident outside the former rebel leader's house 10 days ago, which left four people dead.
By midday, the United Nations and the European Union force in Kinshasa had deployed more than 150 troops to the scene, both outside the court and around Mr Bemba's home.
The building, however, was already in flames after some protesters broke into the court, pillaged offices and set them alight.
Around 50 people started stoning international troops as they helped the Congolese police to evacuate the building, where the hearing on the election results had been suspended due to the disturbance.
Two annexes to the court and a large part of the main building were gutted by fire, in a highly symbolic incident that is also likely to delay the announcement of final election results.
According to a UN official, it is unlikely that any of the documentation lost in the fire relating to the election is irreplaceable.
The final results were due to come out as soon as next Monday but this will likely be delayed by the interruption to court proceedings.