Violence flares a day ahead of DR Congo elections
Congolese ‘Mama wa Amani’ (women of peace) pray for peaceful elections at the Ijize church in Goma on November 27, 2011 on the eve of ahead of presidential and legislative elections. Tensions flared on the eve of Democratic Republic of Congo elections as opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi called a rally in the capital despite a ban on gatherings followed deadly violence. The polls are only the second here since back-to-back wars from 1996 to 2003, the scars of which are still fresh.
Violence has erupted in Kinshasa on the final day of campaigning before Monday's elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Police clashed with opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi and his supporters, who had tried to defy a ban on campaign rallies, Agence France-Presse reported.
Kinshasa police banned political rallies on Sunday after a man was killed in campaign-related unrest earlier in the day, AFP said.
Tshisekedi, a main challenger to President Joseph Kabila, was caught in a standoff with police at Kinshasa airport for more than seven hours after they blocked his Hummer from leaving the airport, AFP said.
More from GlobalPost: Congo goes to polls amid hope and fear
Congolese vote in parliamentary and presidential elections Monday, the second presidential poll since the wars from 1998 to 2003.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the country's government to maintain peace.
"I call on all political leaders and the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to exercise restraint throughout the process to ensure that the elections are held in a peaceful and secure environment," Ban said, the BBC reported.
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