Kabila buried but Kinshasa turbulent

Violence erupted in the DRC capital Kinshasa after the funeral on Tuesday of slain President Laurent-Desire Kabila who was buried with full military honours. Foreign dignitaries, including Kabila's allies Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola and President Sam Nujoma of Namibia, paid their last respects to the president who was shot dead by one of his bodyguards last Tuesday.

His adversaries, Rwanda and Uganda, were not invited. Joseph Kabila, the president's son, is set to be sworn in as the country's new head of state. News agencies reported growing anti-western sentiment in Kinshasa, with many grief-stricken residents accusing the west of masterminding the assassination.

Diplomatic sources in Kinshasa told IRIN they had been subjected to incidents of stone-throwing and sticks had been hurled at diplomatic vehicles travelling to and from the funeral ceremony. Diplomats were accused of being "assassins" and "diamond thieves". Security in the capital was very tight.

Ahead of the funeral, Congolese state television broadcast an announcement warning residents that jet fighters would be flying above the capital and a 21-gun salute would take place. It urged the people of Kinshasa not to panic and to remain calm. The statement added that Angolan troop reinforcements had been sent to Kinshasa and the DRC's second city of Lubumbashi in Kabila's home province of Katanga.

Speakers at the funeral included Interior Minister Gaetan Kakudji who said the UN and the OAU should "activate themselves" and "really implement" Security Council resolutions so that the "aggressors leave our territory". A representative of the transitional parliament echoed his words, calling on the "aggressors" to leave and expressing gratitude to Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia for their support.