Presidential candidate denies eating pygmies

By Daniel Flynn

KINSHASA (Reuters) - An ex-rebel leader running for president in Congo's historic elections appealed to his supporters on Friday to vote in peace and denounced allegations of war crimes and cannibalism as a slur against him.

Jean-Pierre Bemba, who has served as vice-president of Democratic Republic of Congo under a peace deal that ended a 1998-2003 war, is a leading contender in Sunday's landmark polls in a field of 32 candidates.

But some analysts fear he could be tempted to take up arms again if he fails to win in a contest where his main political rival, President Joseph Kabila, is viewed as favourite.

A day after his supporters rampaged through parts of Kinshasa following a fire at his compound which killed two people, Bemba told foreign reporters he opposed violence.

"I call on the people to stay calm, to go about their business and to turn out massively to vote on Sunday," Bemba told a news conference. His followers on Thursday attacked media authority offices, police and journalists and looted a church.

Three policemen, two soldiers and a civilian were killed during the disturbances after a Bemba rally.

The July 30 vote will be the first free elections in more than 40 years in the giant central African state. But in often tense campaigning, opposition parties have accused Kabila of using state security services and media to harass challengers.

If elected, Bemba said he would place human rights at the top of his agenda. He denied accusations by critics that he was guilty of war crimes, particularly that he ate pygmies during warfare in the lawless northeast district of Ituri in 2002.

"These are lies which have come from the highest levels of government. ... The pygmies are alive and well," he said. "In no way is Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty of anything."

The Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights has filed a war crimes case against Bemba with the International Criminal Court in The Hague. It accuses him and his former fighters of committing atrocities against civilians.

The court is pursuing a number of war crimes investigations in Congo and extradited a militia leader earlier this year.

Fears of violence have overshadowed the presidential and parliamentary polls in the mineral-rich former Belgian colony, which is struggling to shake off the effects of the recent war which killed some 4 million people.

Diplomats and analysts have warned that former rebel leaders such as Bemba have kept their militias intact and could rekindle conflict if they lose their lucrative government jobs.

"The day after the polls we will be able to judge if they have been fair. ... We will be vigilant. We will have witnesses in every voting bureau," Bemba said. "This is a unique chance to provide democratic institutions and democratically elected leaders. We should not waste it."

Responding to criticism from rivals and church leaders that his rebel past tarnished his candidacy, Bemba said he had only taken up arms to fight what he called an anti-democratic dynasty founded by Kabila's father, Laurent, who was swept to power in 1997 by a Rwandan-backed campaign.

Laurent Kabila was assassinated by a bodyguard in 2001.

"We had the courage to fight a government imposed by a foreign power. We fought for five years in the bush. ... It's a miracle I'm still alive," said Bemba.