Zairian Rebels Agree to Talks With Government

LOME, Togo —  Zaire’s rebels agreed to talks with President Mobutu Sese Seko’s shaky regime Thursday but successfully resisted pressure to first accept a cease-fire.

A two-day summit of African leaders on the Zaire crisis ended with a statement calling for immediate negotiations between the warring parties.

Five months into their revolt, rebel leader Laurent Kabila’s disciplined fighters control about a quarter of Zaire. Mobutu, 66 and weakened by prostate cancer, has watched his unpaid and demoralized army collapse in the field.

With copper-rich Shaba province now in their sights and Mobutu’s departure after 32 years in office their priority, the rebels have no interest in an early truce. However, they accepted the principle of a cease-fire.

In a final declaration at the summit in Togo, African presidents “called for immediate negotiations between the government of Zaire and the Democratic Alliance for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire, leading to a cease-fire and complete cessation of hostilities.”

South Africa or Togo were the likely venues for the talks.

Delegates from the warring factions met separately and then together Thursday with the presidents of Nigeria, Togo and Cameroon and with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.