Mobuto Drops Plans For Re-Election Bid

President Mobutu Sese Seko abandoned plans to run for re-election and called on his military Thursday to prepare Zaire for a vote. Still, he clung to his presidency and angrily rejected suggestions he would not return to Zaire.

Mobutu made the pledge in a statement he and five other African leaders issued from neighboring Gabon.

The editor of the government-run daily newspaper L’Union, Ngoyo Moussavou, said Thursday that the Zairian president planned to return to his country this morning. Moussavou said the flight would leave Gabon at 10 a.m. (2 a.m. PDT).

Western diplomats, meanwhile, pushed for a peace settlement between Mobutu and rebel leader Laurent Kabila.

“The next few days are critical for peace in Zaire,” U.S. envoy Bill Richardson said in Paris. He briefed French diplomats after his nine-day shuttle diplomacy, which included several meetings with Kabila and Mobutu.