U.S. Presses Zairian Rebels To Enter Kinshasa Peacefully Kabila Says President Mobutu, Family Will Be Safe If He Voluntarily Relinquishes Power In Eight Days

Desperate to prevent an all-out attack on the Zairian capital, a U.S. envoy pressed rebels Monday to enter Kinshasa peacefully, and shuttled around Africa to talk with their leader and the influential men who back him.

Bill Richardson, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, urged restraint during the eight days that rebel leader Laurent Kabila has given President Mobutu Sese Seko to resign or be chased out of Kinshasa.

“He has to choose to relinquish power and he is safeguarded, or he perishes with his power,” Kabila said in the southeastern rebel stronghold of Lumbumbashi, a day after peace talks with Mobutu.

The rebels said in a statement they would guarantee Mobutu’s safety and that of his family if he resigned now.

Kabila’s 70,000-strong rebel army has captured more than three-quarters of Zaire in its drive to end Mobutu’s nearly 32-year dictatorship. Kabila said the vanguard of his forces was 40 miles from Kinshasa’s international airport and would be at the outskirts of the city of 6 million within days.

For weeks, leaflets purportedly from the rebels have told Kinshasa residents that rebel forces were almost there.

Asked what would happen if Mobutu ignored his deadline, Kabila said: “He will be chased from the power, pushed out of Kinshasa in a few days.”

Mobutu and Kabila apparently made little progress toward ending the seven-month war in talks Sunday aboard a South African naval ship docked in Pointe Noire, Congo. They agreed only to meet again within 10 days.

Richardson talked with Kabila for an hour Monday and said he was encouraged by Kabila’s conciliatory tone toward Mobutu.