President Joseph Kabila was officially inaugurated on Dec. 20 to a new term as head of the vast central African state, after winning a disputed Nov. 28 election that opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi derided as fraudulent.

"We consider (Tshisekedi has) been sworn in," said Remy Masamba, a spokesman for Tshisekedi's UDPS party. "I am sure that shortly he will communicate how the institutions will work and how the country will be run."

A top Kabila adviser called the move a "political farce" and said Tshisekedi could face charges.

"Anyone who makes pantomime politics and declares himself president will have to face the law of the land. We will not tolerate someone disturbing the peace and thinking his dreams are reality," Congo's ambassador to London, Kikaya Bin Karubi, told Reuters by telephone.

Tshisekedi had been seeking to hold the rival inauguration at a Kinshasa stadium, but security forces blocked the area around his house and also deployed tanks and the Republican Guard to the stadium.