House Panel Demands Mobutu Resign At Once

A House committee called for the immediate resignation Wednesday of Zaire’s President Mobutu Sese Seko, accusing the former U.S. ally of human rights abuses and of causing Zaire’s severe poverty.

The State Department, meanwhile, called on the Rwandan government to allow a massive airlift and overland evacuation of 100,000 refugees to begin Friday from Zaire back to Rwanda.

The House International Relations Committee unanimously adopted a resolution expected to be approved by the House later this week. It urges President Clinton to adopt the same position.

The resolution calls on Mobutu to resign immediately and leave Zaire. It accuses Mobutu of violating human rights and turning potentially prosperous Zaire into one of the world’s poorest countries.