AU seeks delay in final announcement of DR Congo vote results

The African Union called Thursday for the final announcement of last month's disputed presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo to be suspended due to "serious doubts".

Meeting in Ethiopia, the AU agreed to urgently send "a high-level delegation" to Kinshasa in a bid to find a way out of the political crisis.

"The Heads of State and Government attending the meeting concluded that there were serious doubts on the conformity of the provisional results, as proclaimed by the National Independent Electoral Commission, with the votes cast," the AU said in a statement.

As a result, it has "called for the suspension of the proclamation of the final results of the elections".

The provisional results of the long-awaited election announced last week are being challenged in court, in a country that has never known a peaceful transfer of power since gaining independence from Belgium in 1960.

The electoral commission last Thursday declared opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi the winner of the December 30 vote with 38.57 percent of the tally against chief rival Martin Fayulu's 34.8 percent.

Fayulu who launched the court action said it was an "electoral coup" forged in backroom dealings between Tshisekedi and outgoing President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power since 2001.

"Even if the situation on the ground has been fortunately calm so far, it obviously remains a cause for concern," AU chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat told African leaders including from South Africa, Zambia and the Republic of