All pictures of this photo essay were taken by ALEX ENGWETE in Kinshasa (DRC), using the still photo function of the CANON OPTURA 600 digital videocamcorder. Most photos---especially the ones featuring crowd scenes---were taken on July 27, 2006, the last legal day of campaigning in the first turn of the presidential election, the very same day that the presidential contender Jean-Pierre Bemba held a rally at the Tata Raphael soccer stadium, the venue of the Rumble in the Jungle bout which pitted Mohammad Ali and George Foreman. (While some of the photos were taken in the Bandalungwa district, most of them were taken in the Matonge neighborhood in the vicinity of the stadium). As Bemba was holding his rally, his militiamen's quarters blew up (an apparent accident due to poor storage of ordnances), which sent his followers, who assumed foul play, on a bloody rampage throughout the city.
