Zaire Envoy Won’t Commit To Direct Peace Talks With Rebels

An envoy for President Mobutu Sese Seko said Thursday the ailing Zairian leader wants peace, but it was not clear if he would pay the price - direct talks with rebels seeking to topple him.

Amid reports of continued fighting in eastern Zaire for Kindu, one of two government-held towns with airports in the region, international efforts to work out a cease-fire continued in South Africa.

South African President Nelson Mandela held a news conference with Mobutu envoy Honore Ngbanda on Thursday, the morning after Mandela appeared with Zairian rebel leader Laurent Kabila.

Both times, Mandela and his invited guests expressed the need for negotiations and peace in Zaire.

“President Mobutu himself is committed to finding a peaceful solution … in respect of the territorial sovereignty of Zaire,” Ngbanda said.

But he stopped short of committing Mobutu’s government to direct peace talks with Kabila, saying that he was in South Africa for talks with South African and U.S. officials on the Zaire conflict.

Kabila said Wednesday night that he was ready for direct negotiations with Mobutu’s government. They would be the first face-to-face talks since his rebel movement began fighting in September.

Conditions for such talks laid down by both sides appeared to be blocking any immediate negotiations. Kabila wants to talk to Mobutu himself and seeks a guarantee the veteran leader will step down. Mobutu, however, oversees a divided government with hardliners demanding a fight against the rebels and others pushing for peace talks.

In Washington, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity that the talks made little progress Thursday.

According to the source, Kabila demands direct talks before he’ll agree to a cease-fire. Mobutu’s government, meanwhile, believes the rebels depend on foreign backing from neighboring Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, and that cutting that support would quell the rebellion.

The Kabila-led rebels took up arms after the government tried to expel ethnic Tutsis from eastern Zaire. They aim to topple Mobutu, whose 31-year dictatorship has left Zaire among the world’s poorest countries.

Reports from Zaire indicated fighting continued outside Kindu, considered a key target of the advance by Kabila’s rebels toward Kisangani, a provincial capital and Zaire’s third-largest city.