Opposition activists dispersed

Police blocked an opposition party meeting in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday. Some 60-70 party activists arrived at a church hall in Kinshasa for a press conference but were confronted by a squad of police and found the door was locked. The meeting would have been the first joint public conference held by the major opposition parties since the president announced the lifting of a ban on their activities on 17 May. The activists chanted abuse against the president and others in his entourage, but were peacefully dispersed. [For more details, see separate IRIN story of 25 July headlined: “Demonstration blocked in Kinshasa”].