Clinton disappointed by DRC election

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Washington is "deeply disappointed" by a court decision in the DRC to uphold provisional election results amid transparency issues, the secretary of state said.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila was sworn in for a second term Tuesday, promising to unite a country divided by civil war.

The country's supreme court upheld provisional results that indicated Kabila won the election over opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi.

Tshisekedi said Kabila was wrongly declared the victor and observers from The Carter Center, which is based in Atlanta, said there were serious credibility issues. The African Union said there were issues with the November vote but described the election is a general success.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the November vote, the second for an independent DRC, lacked credibility.

"The United States is deeply disappointed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo Supreme Court's decision to uphold the electoral commission's provisional results without fully evaluating widespread reports of irregularities," she said.

The country's supreme court confirmed results from November elections that indicated Kabul won 49 percent of the vote compared with 32 percent for Tshisekedi. He rejects the outcome and scheduled his own inauguration for Friday.

Clinton said that while the election was "seriously flawed," it was unclear whether those flaws were enough to change the outcome.