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Zairian prime minister offers to share power
But rebels reject cabinet posts
In this story:
- Tshisekedi names transitional parliament, cabinet
- Prime minister: Stop spilling blood
- Negotiators arrive in South Africa
- Belgian troopers to prepare in Zambia
- Related stories and sites
April 3, 1997
Web posted at: 8:40 p.m. EST (0140 GMT)KINSHASA, Zaire (CNN) -- Zaire's new prime minister moved quickly Thursday to deal with the country's rebel insurgency by dismissing the parliament, installing a new government and offering six cabinet posts to the rebels.
Meanwhile, representatives of the rebel alliance and President Mobutu Sese Seko arrived in South Africa to begin peace talks designed to end the nearly six-month-old insurgency, which has left most of eastern Zaire in rebel hands.
A L S O
The power-sharing offer made by Etienne Tshisekedi on his first full day as prime minister was quickly rejected by the rebels. And political leaders loyal to Mobutu -- who reluctantly appointed his longtime nemesis Tshisekedi as prime minister on Wednesday -- angrily denounced his moves to shake up the Zairian political structure.
"I don't know where he gets this power to dismiss parliament. The constitution won't be abrogated just because a citizen gets up and says it is," said Anzuluni Bembe, the parliament's speaker.
"I believe we are entering a new crisis," said Mobutu spokesman Kabuya Lumuna Sando. Another Mobutu ally told Reuters that the Zairian military may not accept the moves and that Tshisekedi is running the risk of being removed from office.
Tshisekedi names transitional parliament, cabinet
Tshisekedi announced that he was annulling the constitution and replacing the 740-member parliament with a new transitional parliament that will hold power until multiparty elections can be held. No date for elections was announced.
The new parliament would be comprised of delegates to a 1992 conference called after Mobutu bowed to demands for democratic reforms in the Central African nation he has ruled since 1965. Delegates to that conference selected Tshisekedi as prime minister, but Mobutu sacked him in 1993.
In addition to the six cabinet posts offered to the rebels, Tshisekedi offered 19 other posts to members of his previous government. No Mobutu loyalists were named to leadership positions
Prime minister: Stop spilling blood
In exchange for the appointments to the cabinet, Tshisekedi called on the rebel group, the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire, to stop its campaign to topple Mobutu.
"I am renewing the appeal I made last November to all my warring companions in the east to immediately stop spilling the blood of the children of this land, whether it is military or civilian," Tshisekedi said.
But rebels said participating in Tshisekedi's government would be inconsistent with their ultimate goal -- getting rid of Mobutu. Rebel leader Laurent Kabila has previously criticized Tshisekedi for agreeing to serve under Mobutu as prime minister.
"This doesn't go with our political demands, Mr. Tshisekedi being the prime minister of Mobutu, said Raphael Ghenda, a spokesman for the rebel alliance. "Our language hasn't changed. Mobutu must be deposed from power, and the alliance must be assured of a democratic transition."
Negotiators arrive in South Africa
Mobutu's special envoy to the peace talks, Honore Ngbanda, arrived in South Africa late Thursday afternoon. Rebel foreign affairs commissioner Bizimia Karaha and his negotiating team were expected to arrive late Thursday. The U.N. envoy who will lead the talks, Mohamed Sahnoun, arrived Wednesday.
No schedule for the talks has been announced. But South African press reports indicated the two sides are expected to meet Saturday in either Johannesburg or Pretoria.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was hopeful the talks would lead to an agreement to set a cease-fire date.
Belgian troopers to prepare in Zambia
Meanwhile, Belgian paratroopers stationed in neighboring Congo were making preparations for a possible evacuation of Belgians in Zaire's Shaba province. Rebel forces are closing in on the province, including the city of Lubumbashi, near the Zambian border.
Twenty paratroopers were to be flown to the nearby Zambian city of Ndola to prepare for the possible dispatch of more than 500 paratroopers if an evacuation is necessary, according to a report on Belgian RLT-TVI television.
Some 670 U.S. Army and Air Force troops are in Brazzaville, Congo, with others in Gabon and a handful in Kinshasa itself; additionally, the amphibious warship USS Nassau is off the coast of Zaire, ready to help with any evacuation of U.S. citizens, should that become necessary, the Pentagon said.
Belgium, France, Britain and the United States have all sent military contingents to Congo in case fighting in Zaire makes it necessary to evacuate their nationals from the country.
Related stories:
- The roots of Zaire's unrest - April 2, 1997
- Zaire rebels: New prime minister changes nothing - April 2, 1997
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