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Obama stresses "timely" presidential polls in DR Congo

Xinhua, April 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday spoke to his Democratic Republic of the Congo counterpart Joseph Kabila on the need to hold "timely, credible and peaceful" presidential polls in his country.

Obama told Kabila in a phone talk that his legacy "as a leader who brought the DRC out of war and set it on a path of continued democratic progress would be consolidated by free and fair elections in 2016," the White House said in a statement.

Kabila came to power in 2001 following the death of his father, President Laurent-Desire Kabila, and won the subsequent presidential elections in 2006 and 2011. His term ends in November 2016, but some say he is attempting to extend it.

"President Obama assured President Kabila that the United States would remain engaged in the DRC throughout the electoral process," the White House said.

It said the two presidents also reaffirmed their commitment to ending the threat of armed groups, in particular the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, that have operated in DRC's eastern part since early 2012.

In addition, Obama discussed with Kabila the pending adoptions in the DRC by American families and urged "a timely resolution" to the issue, the White House said. Endite