Mobutu Sese Seko

Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled Zaire for nearly 32 years with a combination of brutal repression and unbridled greed that impoverished his citizens while earning him millions, died in Morocco on Sunday, less than four months after being driven into exile by leaders of a popular rebellion. Mobutu, who died at 66 after a long battle with prostate cancer, was for years the epitome of the African strongman.

Paramilitary police sealed off a conference hall Tuesday and prevented a meeting of Zaire's transitional Parliament in a fresh strong-arm gesture against the opposition-dominated legislature.

A search of Swiss banks turned up only $3.4 million belonging to deposed Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko--far short of the billions he and his relatives are believed to have stashed there during his long, corrupt reign.

Mobutu Sese Seko, the ailing former leader of Zaire, was in good condition after undergoing surgery for serious bleeding, the official Moroccan news agency MAP said.

Exiled former Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, suffering from advanced prostate cancer, checked into a Moroccan hospital after France refused to allow him entry for medical treatment, said his son, Nzanga Mobutu.

Nine senior military officers said they would join the rebels fighting to overthrow President Mobutu Sese Seko in eastern Zaire. The officers were among those who were leading the Zairian army when Goma and Bukavu--key cities on the border with Rwanda--fell to Laurent Kabila's Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire last year.