TWO CONGOLESE POLICEMEN WERE KILLED ON THURSDAY WHEN SUPPORTERS OF A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WENT ON THE RAMPAGE AFTER PART OF HIS COMPOUND WAS DESTROYED BY A FIRE DAYS BEFORE HISTORIC ELECTIONS, U.N. OFFICIALS SAID, ACCORDING TO REUTERS. FOLLOWERS OF FORMER REBEL CHIEF JEAN-PIERRE BEMBA ALSO LOOTED A CHURCH AND SET BUILDINGS ABLAZE AS TENSIONS FLARED IN THE RIVERSIDE CAPITAL AHEAD OF WHAT WILL BE THE FIRST MULTI-PARTY POLLS IN 40 YEARS IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. THE VIOLENCE IN KINSHASA ERUPTED A DAY AFTER A CONGOLESE MILITIA CHIEF IN THE EAST OF THE COUNTRY AGREED TO DISARM IN A MOVE WELCOMED BY U.N. PEACEKEEPERS IN THE COUNTRY. POLICE WERE ATTACKED AFTER A MYSTERY BLAZE DESTROYED A BARRACKS HOUSING BODYGUARDS OF BEMBA, A VICE-PRESIDENT IN THE TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT WHO IS STANDING IN SUNDAY'S LANDMARK POLLS, U.N. OFFICIALS SAID. AS NIGHT FELL, TRUCKLOADS OF RIOT POLICE PATROLLED THE STREETS OF THE CAPITAL. A REUTERS REPORTER SAW THE BURNED BODY OF A CHILD IN THE RUINS OF THE BARRACKS. U.N. RADIO SAID TWO PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN THE FIRE, THE CAUSES OF WHICH WERE NOT IMMEDIATELY KNOWN. ANGRY BEMBA SUPPORTERS ACCUSED FRENCH MIRAGE JETS, WHICH FLEW LOW OVER THE CAPITAL AS PART OF A EUROPEAN MILITARY FORCE BACKING THE U.N. PEACEKEEPING MISSION, OF BOMBING THE BARRACKS. A EUROPEAN FORCE SPOKESMAN DISMISSED THE ACCUSATION. THE BEMBA SUPPORTERS CHASED AWAY U.N. VEHICLES AND ROUGHED UP FOREIGN JOURNALISTS NEAR A RALLY IN SUPPORT OF THE CANDIDATE. THEY ALSO SET FIRE TO THE NATIONAL MEDIA AUTHORITY OFFICE, A BEER WAREHOUSE AND A MUSICIAN'S HOME AND LOOTED A PROTESTANT CHURCH, WITNESSES SAID. THE PRO-BEMBA MILITANTS ACCUSED THE MUSICIAN AND THE CHURCH'S PASTOR OF BEING SUPPORTERS OF PRESIDENT JOSEPH KABILA. "THE PEOPLE STOLE EVERYTHING FROM THE CHURCH. THEY EVEN SET FIRES INSIDE. THE PASTOR FLED," SAID RAPHAEL KOSE, 39, WHO SAW THE INCIDENT. WITNESSES SAID POLICE FIRED WARNING SHOTS BUT LEFT SHORTLY AFTER. BEMBA IS ONE OF 32 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES, WHO ALSO INCLUDE KABILA. SUNDAY'S POLLS ARE AIMED AT USHERING IN A NEW ERA OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY FOR THE CONGO FOLLOWING A 1998-2003 WAR THAT KILLED AN ESTIMATED 4 MILLION PEOPLE THROUGH CONFLICT, HUNGER AND DISEASE. THE WORLD'S BIGGEST INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING FORCE, AROUND 17,000 UNITED NATIONS AND 2,000 EUROPEAN UNION TROOPS, IS OVERSEEING THE ELECTIONS. PEACE DEAL AT A RALLY ATTENDED BY 40,000 CHEERING SUPPORTERS, BEMBA PREDICTED HE WOULD WIN SUNDAY'S VOTE. "THE LIBERATION OF CONGO WILL BE COMPLETE ON SUNDAY ... THIS IS THE HOUR OF TRUTH," HE SAID IN A SPEECH. EARLIER, U.N. OFFICIALS HAD WELCOMED A PEACE DEAL SIGNED BY MILITIA CHIEF MATHIEU NGUDJOLO IN NORTHEAST ITURI DISTRICT LATE ON WEDNESDAY IN WHICH HE AGREED TO LAY DOWN HIS ARMS AND ALLOW VOTING ON SUNDAY. "THE TWO PARTIES HAVE AGREED ON THE INTEGRATION OF THE MRC (CONGOLESE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT) FIGHTERS AND A GENERAL AMNESTY FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE MOVEMENT," SAID A STATEMENT ISSUED AFTER WEDNESDAY'S TALKS AND SEEN BY REUTERS. NGUDJOLO, WHO HEADS A LOOSE COALITION OF MILITIA FIGHTERS IN ITURI CALLED THE MRC, IS ONE OF THE LAST REBELS HOLDING OUT IN THE REGION, WHERE ETHNIC VIOLENCE AND CLASHES BETWEEN MILITIA GROUPS FIGHTING OVER MINES KILLED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS. SOME CONGO EXPERTS EXPRESSED SCEPTICISM ABOUT THE DEAL WITH NGUDJOLO, WHICH FOLLOWS ANOTHER STRUCK THIS MONTH WITH PETER KARIM, AN ITURI WARLORD WHO KIDNAPPED SEVEN U.N. PEACEKEEPERS. KARIM HAD VOWED TO DISARM IN RETURN FOR BECOMING AN ARMY COLONEL BUT, SO FAR HAS FAILED TO DISBAND HIS FIGHTERS.
