Laurent Kabila

If doubts remained that the clock is ticking on the 32-year reign of President Mobutu Sese Seko, rebel chieftain Laurent Kabila on Wednesday gave the president and his courtiers in this capital a timetable for packing their suitcases. The guerrilla leader, who now controls more than a third of this mineral-rich nation, said he will be in Kinshasa "in three weeks' time, and I am very serious."

After weeks of effort, mediators finally coaxed President Mobutu Sese Seko out of his palace for peace talks with civil war foe Laurent Kabila aboard a South African ship. But the rebel leader, who has repeatedly demanded a meeting, surprised everyone Friday and refused to come. Left in the lurch by Kabila's last-minute decision were South African President Nelson Mandela, United Nations special envoy Mohamed Sahnoun and Bill Richardson, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Warring parties in Congo claimed gains Friday as President Laurent Kabila joined regional leaders in Zimbabwe to seek a solution to the conflict. Tutsi-led rebels waging a weeklong campaign against Kabila claimed fresh advances in eastern Congo. In Kinshasa, state radio said loyalist troops had retaken the airport in the north-central city of Kisangani.

American U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson said Monday that it was the threat of a loss of foreign investment that finally persuaded Congo's president, Laurent Kabila, to agree to a United Nations investigation of alleged atrocities by his army. The agreement, reached over the weekend in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, will allow a U.N. team to investigate whether the then-rebel army massacred Rwandan refugees.

President Mobutu Sese Seko failed to return to this capital city as planned Friday amid growing signs that he will meet again next week with his guerrilla opponent, Laurent Kabila, and seek an orderly transition of power in Zaire. Earlier in the week, Mobutu's aides had insisted that the president would return to Kinshasa on Friday after holding talks with other French-speaking African leaders in Libreville, Gabon.

Rebels fighting to topple President Laurent Kabila slipped into the outskirts of this capital before dawn Wednesday and triggered an intense battle that paralyzed much of the city, but the insurgents fell short of their apparent target: Congo's main airport. Sharp blasts and long, thundering explosions rocked the city all morning as government helicopters shuttled between the city center and the embattled northeastern suburbs. The fighting died down after noon, but authorities imposed a 6 p.m.

In what could emerge as the major diplomatic breakthrough to end Zaire's civil war, President Mobutu Sese Seko has agreed in principle to meet with Laurent Kabila, the rebel whose forces have seized about half the country in a drive to end Mobutu's 32-year grip on power. The agreement was announced Thursday in Cape Town by United Nations envoy Mohammed Sahnoun shortly after South African President Nelson Mandela formally invited Mobutu to peace talks.

Cuban President Fidel Castro wore his trademark military fatigues and Congolese President Laurent Kabila sported a tropical shirt decorated with pictures of bank notes as the African leader ended a three-day visit here Saturday that underscored Cuba's expanding relations with former friends and new allies.

Gunfire rang out at army barracks in this capital, and military troops in the east declared themselves in open rebellion Monday against President Laurent Kabila, who used loyal forces to control the streets and pursue Rwandan mercenaries who appear to have turned against him. Predawn clashes at two military bases apparently pitted Kabila's troops against the mercenaries, who last year helped him oust longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who later died in exile.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced Monday that he will replace the United Nations' top human rights investigator in Congo in an effort to push forward a much-delayed investigation into reported massacres of refugees by soldiers allied with Congolese President Laurent Kabila. Kabila agreed June 7 to cooperate with the investigation following a meeting in Lubumbashi, Congo, with top U.S. officials, including U.N.