Brussels, Belgium - Belgian Foreign Minister, Didier Reynders, said he would not attend President Joseph Kabila's inauguration in Kinshasa, scheduled for Tuesday, 20 December. In a press statement on Saturday, Reynders said he was turning down the invitation because the DR Congo Supreme Court did not take into account the irregularities reported by international election observation missions, including that of the European Union and the Carter Centre, in declaring Kabila winner of the presidential election held 27 November.

However, the Belgian foreign minister said he would only go to Congo after the publication of the results of the parliamentary elections and the formation of the new Congolese government.

'I can then meet with President Kabila and other Congolese politicians,' he said.

This statement has reportedly calmed frayed nerves following the massive demonstration by thousands of Congolese in the neighborhood of Matonge, Brussels, during which cars and houses were vandalized and dozens of the protesters arrested by the police.

The demonstrators, protesting against the re-election of Kabila, have threatened to retaliate during the Belgian election. They said they will vote for the Flemish nationalist party (NVA), which has called for the separation of the Flemish (Dutch-speaking Belgians) and the Walloons (French-speaking) from the Belgian federal state in power.

The invitation was extended to Reynders last week by the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexis Thambwe, during their talks in Brussels.

Pana 18/12/2011