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U.N. workers attacked as new Zaire talks near
May 13, 1997
Web posted at: 10:00 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT)Latest developments:
- New peace talks scheduled for Wednesday
- Armed men in rebel uniforms attack U.N. staffers
- Reports: Rebels take key Zaire bridge
- Americans urged to leave
- Related stories and sites
KINSHASA, Zaire (CNN) -- One day before new Zairian peace talks were planned, leaflets appeared in the capital on Tuesday calling for an end to President Mobutu Sese Seko's 32-year reign -- an apparent sign of growing boldness by his opponents as rebels advance toward Kinshasa.
South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki called Wednesday's planned meeting between Mobutu and rebel leader Laurent Kabila the likely "last chance" for a peaceful solution to the seven-month Zairian crisis.
Mbeki was expected to fly to the region on Tuesday to try to arrange final agreement on crucial issues of when and how Mobutu, 66 and ailing with prostate cancer, would hand over power.
But obligations in South Africa delayed his departure, and aides said he might have to carry out his shuttle diplomacy by telephone.
Plans call for Mobutu and Kabila to meet on the South African navy vessel anchored off neighboring Congo where the two leaders met for talks on May 4.
Armed men in rebel uniforms attack U.N. staffers
Meanwhile, the U.N. children's agency (UNICEF) said armed men in rebel uniforms in eastern Zaire had beaten and bayoneted two of its international staff. One needed hospital treatment.
Spokeswoman Marie Heuze in Geneva, Switzerland, said UNICEF condemned "this act of barbarism" in the de facto rebel capital of Goma on Monday, which she said showed conditions were "not adequate" for relief work there.
U.N. sources said the attackers spoke Kinyarwandan, the language of neighboring Rwanda whose rulers, mainly from the Tutsi ethnic minority, are backing the Tutsi-dominated rebels in Zaire.
Heuze said five armed men entered a UNICEF house in Goma on Monday morning and attacked the two staff members -- a man and a woman -- and three domestics.
UNICEF had no immediate plans to pull out of Goma but it may be forced to do so if security worsened, she added.
Heuze said rebel authorities in Goma, reacting to the daylight attack, had said it was possible the attackers wore rebel uniforms to discredit their alliance.
But the uniforms were brand new, suggesting they came straight from rebel stocks, she said.
Reports: Rebels take key Zaire bridge
Kabila's rebels have taken a key bridge on the road to Kinshasa, reports reaching the city said on Tuesday.
Zairians from the region, in contact with Kinshasa residents by radio, said government forces pulled back from the Kwango River Bridge about 110 miles (180 km) by road from the capital on Monday.
Information Minister Kin-Kiey Mulumba said he could make no immediate comment on the reports. On Monday, he told reporters there was fierce fighting in the region of Kenge, 125 miles (200 km) east of Kinshasa.
Americans urged to leave
On the streets of Kinshasa, the leaflets left on cars or stacked on corners called for people to observe the villa morte, or dead city strike, called for Wednesday by political opposition groups and the rebels.
Other leaflets, from the opposition youth movement, demanded the resignation of Mobutu and arrest of Zairian soldiers.
With rebels pressing their advance, the United States on Monday renewed pressure on Americans to leave Zaire, saying the country is too high a security risk.
"Get out of Zaire before you find yourself in harm's way," State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said.
"There are missionaries there who believe, obviously, that they are doing necessary work. There are business people there who are chasing profits, chasing contracts, and obviously they and their companies have decided it's worth the risk," he told reporters.
But he said: "We think it's a high risk, frankly."
Correspondent Mike Hanna and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Troops make last ditch fight for Zaire capital - May 12, 1997
- U.N. finds sick refugees in Zaire camp - May 12, 1997
- Zairian rebels resume offensive - May 11, 1997
- Zaire's Mobutu returns home, plans to meet rebel leader - May 10, 1997
- Kabila agrees to second round of talks with Mobutu - May 9, 1997
- Mobutu delays return to Zaire - May 9, 1997
- Mobutu's next move? - May 8, 1997
- Mobutu leaves Zaire and heavy fighting behind - May 7, 1997
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