500 held after Congo anti-government riot

KINSHASA, Congo, Sep 24, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Police in the Congo capital Kinshasa Sunday held more than 500 people, including women with babies, for rioting amid a heated presidential campaign.

The detainees were herded into the courtyard of a police station and lacked adequate food, water or shelter from heavy rains, the BBC reported.

Police said the suspects were being investigated for "criminal activities."

More than 200 street children were arrested, but later released, following riots spawned by the burning of a TV station owned by Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former rebel leader who is President Joseph Kabila's only challenger in the election.

The Central African country held its first multiparty elections in more than four decades in July. None of the candidates won a majority, forcing a runoff between Kabila and Bemba Oct. 29.

Fifteen of Congo's original 33 presidential candidates threw their support behind Bemba Friday.

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