As heavy gun and mortar fire reverberated through Congo's capital, the country's chief prosecutor issued an arrest warrant yesterday for a presidential rival who is holed up in the South African embassy.

The eruption of the seething conflict, which has left as many as 60 dead, seriously undermines a peace process that late last year culminated in the swearing-in of the first democratically elected president since Congo won independence from Belgium.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana appealed to President Joseph Kabila and Jean-Pierre Bemba, the presidential challenger, to “settle their differences through dialogue” after bloody fighting in the capital Kinshasa broke out this week.

“The international community, and especially the European Union, will not accept that the Congolese democratic experiment, a major success for the African continent, is jeopardized,” he said.

Prosecutor Tsaimanga Mukenda said that neither Mr. Bemba's immunity as a parliamentary senator nor the fact that he is being sheltered in the South African embassy would stop him from seeking his arrest on charges of high treason.

“He has caused serious infractions by organizing a militia and by ordering looting... his actions amount to high treason and we will pursue him wherever he is,” Mr. Mukenda said, adding he would ask parliament to strip Bemba of immunity.

Gunfire was audible and thick black smoke rose from an oil refinery in the capital. Radio Okapi, a United Nations-backed radio station, reported that the state-run refinery had been hit during the clashes, possibly by a mortar shell. Numerous restaurants were looted overnight, as was the embassy of Zimbabwe, said government spokesman Toussaint Tshilombo.

The head of the army said in a nationally televised address Friday that security forces had regained control of the capital, but sporadic gunfire could still be heard in the capital late Friday.

The army seized control of two of Mr. Bemba's three residences in the capital, said André Kimbuta, the governor of Kinshasa. He said the military was slowly gaining control over the city and that some of Mr. Bemba's fighters had fled.

Late yesterday, the UN peacekeeping mission reported that order had been restored in the capital and armed supporters of Mr. Bemba were turning themselves in at mission headquarters.

South African deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad said yesterday that his country would send an envoy to the Congo, once known as Zaire, to help deal with the conflict.

Mr. Pahad said it could open a Pandora's box if the fighting was allowed to continue, saying it would encourage others to use violence to achieve what they think they did not get through the peace process.

Mr. Bemba told the British Broadcasting Corp. that he would not surrender.

“For what reason? I have been attacked, and if someone has to complain, it's me to complain,” he told the BBC from the South African embassy, where he arrived Thursday night with his wife.

He said he had called on his supporters to stop fighting and wanted a political solution. He said he had not decided whether to request asylum from South Africa.

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