2 killed as Congo opposition headquarters attacked, UN says

Opposition parties accuse Kabila of conspiring to extend his mandate by delaying general elections, initially set to take place in November, to next year at the very least. The opposition asserts that Kabila simply wants to stay in power.

Kabila is barred by constitutional term limits for running again and his opponents say the election delay is a manoeuvre to keep him in power.

Citing “credible reports”, Sawyer said that 37 protesters have been killed since the protests began, six police officers and one supporter of ruling leader Joseph Kabila’s party.

An Associated Press photographer saw at least four bodies Monday after demonstrators hurled rocks and police fired tear gas in the streets.

Witnesses had initially said three bodies were inside the building.

“It’s a question we will discuss [among] Europeans, but the situation is extremely worrying and very risky”, said Ayrault. “But please allow me to be clear: The postponement is not indefinite”.

France urged Congolese authorities to ensure the “delay” in holding the next presidential election is “as short as possible”, and called on the government to respect “public liberties, especially the right to demonstrate peacefully”.

“The government can only condemn this mob justice mentality”, he said.

“We’re ready to consider targeted sanctions under those circumstances”. The armed men burst in to the office in the capital’s Limete neighbourhood early on Tuesday, he added.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court should monitor the situation in Congo, visit the country, and publish a statement reminding Congolese officials that the court has jurisdiction over Congo and is watching developments closely, HRW said.

State Department spokesman John Kirby also said the United States is “outraged and deeply disturbed by the physical obstruction and verbal aggression aimed at U.S. Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa Tom Perriello while he was departing from the Kinshasa airport on September 18”.

Following the unrest on Monday, the department reaffirmed its readiness to impose sanctions on those responsible “for perpetrating violence or repression”.

The overarching consensus was that these elections were fair.

“There is a pathway for a peaceful transition this year, even if elections can’t be held” in 2016, he said. The president’s term ends in December, but he has been trying to foist on the country an interim administration …

Before the clashes, opposition activists burned a giant poster of the president bearing a message appealing for the two sides to reach a solution to the political crisis through dialogue.