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TEHRAN, Jan 10 - Supporters of Congo's president-elect celebrated an unlikely win on Thursday, but the runner-up denounced a fix and France, Belgium and the Catholic Church all cast doubt on the results.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - A chaotic vote in the vast and volatile nation of 80 million people has raised fears of renewed violence, and at least two people were killed in clashes at one town in the west.
But most parts of the country were calm.
The electoral commission (CENI) announced around 3 a.m. (0200 GMT) that opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, 55, had won the Dec. 30 vote, edging out another opposition candidate, businessman Martin Fayulu.
Fayulu called the results an "electoral coup" engineered by outgoing President Joseph Kabila to deny him the presidency.
France said the outcome was at odds with tallies provided by observers from the Catholic Church. These showed Fayulu winning, according to three diplomats briefed on the findings.
Publicly, the church said its tally did not match official results.
Anger over the results, and particularly the Fayulu camp's suspicions that Tshisekedi won by cutting a power-sharing deal with Kabila, could cast a cloud over what is meant to be Congo's first democratic transfer of power in 59 years of independence.
Tshisekedi's camp has acknowledged contact with Kabila's representatives since the election but said they were aimed at ensuring a peaceful transition and denied a deal.
In contrast to previous polls, election officials did not provide a regional breakdown of the results.
Reaction across the country was mixed.
Source: Reuters
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