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Zairian rebels celebrate capture of Kisangani

Zaire map March 16, 1997
Web posted at: 3:04 p.m. EST (2004 GMT)

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KISANGANI, Zaire (CNN) -- Zairian rebels celebrated their biggest victory after capturing the country's third largest city, vowing to pursue government troops and foreign mercenaries fleeing westward.

"We are advancing even beyond Kisangani in all the directions that the enemy has taken in retreat," rebel information chief Raphael Ghenda told reporters in Goma, capital of the rebel- held east.

The Tutsi-led rebels who began their fight five months ago now control about one-fifth of the vast Central African nation.

The center of Kisangani was calm and in rebel hands Sunday after government troops fled Saturday. There was no gunfire Sunday evening and scores of rebel soldiers patrolled the airport near the city center.

Ghenda said the forces of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire had crossed to the west bank of the broad Zaire River at Kisangani, where remnants of the defending Zairian force fled after Saturday's battle.

Capital is the ultimate goal

Rebels encountered pockets of resistance Sunday morning from mainly Serb mercenaries, but have now cleared the town, according to a senior aid official.

Residents reported few casualties before or after the rebels marched into town Saturday.

"I didn't see any dead and wounded. It was a peaceful takeover within central Kisangani," hotel worker Pele Lesondja, 32, said.

Other residents said one man was killed when fleeing Zairian government troops stole his motorcycle. They said hundreds of the remnants of the government force in Kisangani went on a looting spree Saturday before crossing the Zaire River, fleeing westward.

The rebels, advancing on several fronts, said they were aiming next for the southern mining hub of Lubumbashi. But the ultimate goal was Kinshasa, Zaire's capital.

"Lubumbashi is the next big target...but all the towns of the republic are targets including Kinshasa itself," Ghenda said.

Lubumbashi, Zaire's second largest city, is the capital of Shaba region and has long been a center for opposition to President Mobutu Sese Seko, who has ruled since seizing power in 1965.

The copper and cobalt produced in Shaba, like the diamonds of neighboring Kasai, are vital to what remains of the government's control of the economy.

Rebels want talks with Mobutu

The fall of Kisangani is the biggest blow so far to Mobutu, who for years ruled the nation at the heart of Africa with an iron grip.

Mobutu, who had prostate surgery last August in Switzerland, has spent most of his time since then in France. Aides had little to say about the fall of Kisangani.

"Don't you know that it's Sunday," said an aide who answered the telephone at Mobutu's luxurious villa at Roquebrune-Cap Martin on the French Riviera. "We don't work on Sundays."

Rebel leader Laurent Kabila told a news conference in Goma Saturday there could be no cease-fire before negotiations, adding that these should be with Mobutu himself.

"We are still advancing, we must liberate the whole country," he said, adding that talks with Mobutu "may constitute some kind of pause."

International mediation efforts to get a cease-fire have failed because the rebels are on the offensive and the Mobutu regime has refused to throw in the towel.

The next talks on the Zaire crisis are due to be held in Kenya on Wednesday, but Kabila is not invited to the African mini-summit. Host President Daniel arap Moi appealed for Mobutu to attend, Kenyan newspapers reported Sunday.

Reuters contributed to this report.

 
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