Date:19/06/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/19/stories/2006061901841500.htm

International

Congo President weds sweetheart

WEDDING VOWS: Congo's President Joseph Kabila and his bride Olive Liemba Disita in Kinshasa on Saturday. — PHOTO: AP

KINSHASA (Congo): Congo's President Joseph Kabila (35), married his long-time sweetheart on Friday in a civil ceremony attended by top Government officials in the capital.

Mr. Kabila married Olive Liemba Disita (26), at the presidential palace in Kinshasa. Images of the ceremony were broadcast on state television on Friday night showing Mr. Kabila dressed in blue and his veiled bride walking past a military honour guard.

Mr. Kabila and Ms. Disita have lived together for years and have a 6-year-old son. Ms. Disita is Congolese and the daughter of a civil servant.

Mr. Kabila is one of 33 candidates expected to run in July elections, the country's first democratic vote in four decades. The mineral-rich nation is struggling to emerge from years of war that ended in 2002 with the creation of a transitional government.

Mr. Kabila inherited the presidency from his father, Laurent Kabila, who was assassinated by a disgruntled bodyguard in 2001. — AP