Mobutu Gets A Global Cold Shoulder

Morocco’s nice. Or how about France?

With Mobutu Sese Seko wearing out his welcome in Togo, the west African nation was prodding the newly deposed Zairian dictator Tuesday to take his exile down the road.

Mobutu’s very presence on Togo soil is “an insult to the Togolese people,” the opposition Le Regard newspaper scolded the government.

Like many dictators before him, Mobutu’s fall from power brought him overnight unpopularity.

Moroccan officials have said Mobutu is headed there but would be welcome only for a short stay en route to France, where he owns a lavish villa on the Riviera.

Mobutu also owns properties in Switzerland, Belgium and South Africa. But Switzerland has frozen his assets, and Belgium and South Africa have been quick to embrace Kabila. France, cool to Kabila, is the most likely address. But France denies Mobutu has requested asylum.