Reuters: Tens of thousands of cheering supporters greeted opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba on Wednesday as he returned to Democratic Republic of Congo after a decade in prison to submit his candidacy for December’s presidential election.
Bemba, a former vice president and warlord whose war crimes convictions at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague were quashed on appeal in May, is expected to pose a stiff challenge to President Joseph Kabila or his preferred successor. After touching down aboard a private jet at Kinshasa’s N’Djili airport, Bemba, 55, dressed in a dark suit and a red tie, shook hands with family members and officials from his MLC party before getting into a white SUV to drive toward the city center.
Throngs of people — many in T-shirts, hats and scarves bearing his likeness — lined streets and peered down from pedestrian overpasses to catch a glimpse of Bemba, who waved and thrust his fist into the air from the open top of his car.