Zaire Government, Rebels Make Little Progress In Talks Sides Can’t Agree On Terms For Future, Broad Negotiations

Senior envoys from both sides of the widening civil war in Zaire sat down with mediators on Thursday in Cape Town, at the urging of South African and American officials, but they had little immediate success in agreeing to terms for peace talks, Clinton administration officials said.

The meeting came a day after President Nelson Mandela announced direct peace talks between envoys for President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and Laurent Kabila, the leader of Tutsi rebels who have seized a swath of territory in eastern Zaire since opening their attacks in October.

Mandela’s announcement of a meeting that was to be secret appeared to undercut the prospects for broader talks. Kabila himself was to have flown from Rwanda to Cape Town for direct talks with Mobutu’s government, despite Zaire’s insistence that it would not negotiate with the rebels, one administration official said here on Thursday. The rebels have been routing Zaire’s demoralized armed forces.

In a day swirling with diplomatic entreaties and contradictory rumors, Mobutu’s nephew and security adviser, Ngbanda Nzambo ko Ayumba, and a representative of Kabila, Bizima Karaha, met separately with South African and American diplomats in Cape Town, American officials said.

Two senior American envoys - the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, George Moose, and the president’s special assistant on Africa, Susan Rice - took part in the discussions. The South Africans were represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, the officials here said.

The immediate goal of Thursday’s meetings was to lay the groundwork for more substantive talks, but by day’s end, neither side appeared willing to meet directly with the other, one official said. “They’re having trouble even agreeing on topics to talk about,” the official said.

After Mandela’s announcement of the talks, Kabila refused to attend, citing security concerns, and Zaire’s government balked as well. “They were ready to sit down face to face secretly,” the official said.

Despite the distrust, more meetings are set for Friday, but direct talks appeared to be far off.

Given the sensitivity of the talks, officials in South Africa and in Washington declined to discuss them publicly. A spokesman for the White House, David Johnson, said only: “We’re looking for ways to be helpful in supporting South Africa and other members of the international community to help bring an end to this conflict.”

On Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution proposing a regional peace plan based on five points: an end to the fighting, the withdrawal of foreign forces, a reaffirmation of borders in the region, the protection of refugees, and an international conference on the conflict.