Republic Of Congo Revolts

The future of talks aimed at ending Congo's 3 1/2-year war was thrown into confusion Saturday after negotiations deadlocked over the makeup of a new government and a temporary constitution. Contradictory reports came from former Botswana President Ketumile Masire, the chief mediator, on whether talks would resume Monday in South Africa as planned. The talks involve Congo's government, the nation's two main rebel movements and a number of opposition political groups.

President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo was shot in a 30-minute gun battle Tuesday at his residence, and some diplomats and sources in neighboring countries said he had been killed. Airports and borders were closed, and a curfew was imposed, but Congolese government officials in Kinshasa, the capital, did not confirm that the president was dead.

Day or night, sober or drunk, Laurent Desire Kabila wasn't shy about calling his chief U.S. contact at the height of his war against Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. "He frequently called me at my house, sometimes in the middle of the night," recalled Peter Whaley, a now-retired diplomat who served as political officer at the U.S. Embassy in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, at the time of the 1996-97 conflict. "Once he called me, drunk as a skunk, and he said: 'Mr.

The apparent assassination of Congolese President Laurent Kabila has created a dangerous power vacuum that could lead to an escalation of the troubled country's civil conflict as the warring sides jostle for control, analysts and diplomats said Wednesday. Any intensification of the fighting would plunge the vast Central African nation into another chaotic phase in its tumultuous history, they warned.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who has pledged to make Africa a higher U.S. priority, met Thursday with Congo's new president to explore the prospect of ending that country's complex, many-sided war. Powell discussed the deteriorating situation in Congo with President Joseph Kabila, who last month succeeded his assassinated father, onetime guerrilla chieftain Laurent Kabila. The session followed a similar discussion Wednesday between Powell and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Attackers with guns and machetes shot and slashed to death six Red Cross workers on a remote road in eastern Congo, leaving their bodies to be discovered in their burned vehicles, aid workers said Friday. The ambush Thursday marked the deadliest single attack on the International Committee of the Red Cross in five years. The victims were a Swiss nurse, a Colombian relief worker and four Congolese. Some were shot, others were both shot and cut with machetes, said Boni Mbaka, a U.N.

Parents reaching a front-line hospital in Congo with stick-thin children in their arms told of countless civilians succumbing to disease and hunger in burned, looted villages cut off in Congo, the region hit hardest by a 2 1/2-year war that has involved six nations. The hospital at Kabinda--where 185 emaciated children lay on and under the 60 beds--provided a first look at the war's hidden toll. Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia have also been involved in the conflict.

Congo's political leaders opened talks Monday meant to establish a transitional government and end three years of war, drawing President Joseph Kabila together with his main rebel rivals for the first time. Botswana President Festus Mogae, whose southern African country is playing host to the talks, told the Congolese to look at the negotiations as a last hope.

Leaders of six African countries pledged Monday to end fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a conflict so large and intractable that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright compared it to a world war. In an unusual Security Council meeting orchestrated by the United States, officials from Congo and five nearby nations--Angola, Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia and Zimbabwe--renewed their commitment to a collapsing cease-fire agreement that they signed in July.

An international aid agency warned Saturday that another Rwanda-style crisis is looming in northeastern Congo, where about 5,000 people have been killed in months of tribal fighting. Christian Blind Mission, or CBM, which has released a grisly video of victims, said international intervention is needed to end the conflict. "We estimate around 5,000 people have died since June, and many thousands more have been displaced," said David McAllister, a CBM regional representative.