Sunday's run-off election in the Democratic Republic of Congo was applauded by observers and diplomats, but officials were still appealing for calm in the war- torn country after a few post-election incidents marred an otherwise peaceful vote, according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. The election marked the end of the country's historic first democratic vote in more then 40 years. Violence erupted weeks after the first vote in July between supporters of the rival presidential candidates Joseph Kabila and Jean-Pierre Bemba, leaving 23 dead. The UN mission in the Congo continued its call for calm on Tuesday, asking supporters of the two candidates as well as Congolese to accept the results or else contest them through the courts. The African Union on Tuesday also urged Congolese to show restraint. Kabila and Bemba signed an agreement ahead of the election to accept the results if they are free and fair and encourage their camps to remain peaceful. After Sunday's the vote, a soldier shot dead two election helpers at a polling centre in Ituri early Monday morning. The incident sparked some unrest, with relatives of the victims attacking a number of other polling centres in response. The EU and the UN's missions in the Congo will continue their patrols until the election results are announced. The EU force pulls out at the end of November. About 20,000 people had to recast their votes in northern Bumba town on Tuesday, with new ballots rushed to the remote area after polling stations were ransacked and ballots burned because of alleged of fraud. A total of 48 polling stations were attacked during Sunday's vote. But the German-led European Parliament delegation observing the election said "everything went much better" than the first round. Election officials said all the votes have been tallied at each polling station and the arduous process of carrying the ballots to the capital Kinshasa for tabulation had begun.
