NEWS
May 18, 1997 | BOB DROGIN and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH, TIMES STAFF WRITERS
Guerrillas from Laurent Kabila's rebel army marched triumphantly into this sprawling capital Saturday and quickly moved to take control of the city and the country, effectively ending a seven-month civil war in Africa's third-largest nation. A beaming Kabila told reporters at rebel headquarters in the southeastern city of Lubumbashi that he was assuming power immediately as the head of state of Zaire, which he called the Democratic Republic of Congo.
NEWS
May 17, 1997 | BOB DROGIN and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH, TIMES STAFF WRITERS
After more than three decades of ruthless and corrupt rule, President Mobutu Sese Seko fled with members of his family and key aides early Friday, apparently relinquishing power before an expected takeover of this nervous capital by advancing rebel soldiers. Africa's longest-serving despot was chauffeured from his palace shortly after dawn in a small car, rather than his usual stretch limousine, in a heavily guarded motorcade of about 10 vehicles, witnesses said.
NEWS
November 3, 1996 | BOB DROGIN, TIMES STAFF WRITER
Fearful of growing chaos and a widening war, the United Nations safely evacuated the last international aid workers from this embattled city Saturday after bands of rebel fighters backed by Rwandan government soldiers routed the Zairian army and captured the key border enclave. The fall of Goma, and the emergency withdrawal of about 130 terrified expatriates by road to nearby Rwanda, mean that no U.N.
NEWS
June 6, 1997 | From Associated Press
Backing down from earlier assertions that it had nothing to do with alleged massacres of Rwandan refugees, Congo's government now acknowledges that some may have been killed in cross-fire during the recent civil war. President Laurent Kabila's government is hoping that the admission, while far from an acknowledgment that his forces committed atrocities, is enough to secure aid for his ravaged land during a visit today by envoy Bill Richardson, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
NEWS
June 9, 1997 | From Times Wire Reports
Foreigners fleeing fighting in the capital, Brazzaville, said a private militia had gained the upper hand after four days of street clashes with government forces. What began as an attempt by government forces to disarm members of the 5,000-strong militia had evolved into anarchy and a full-scale battle for control of the city, the witnesses said. In Washington, the State Department ordered the departure from Brazzaville of all nonessential U.S.
NEWS
February 17, 1997 | From Times Wire Reports
Rebel leader Laurent Kabila, responding to a plea from the United Nations, agreed to delay a threatened attack on the nation's largest refugee camp. Kabila had threatened to assault the Tingi-Tingi camp, which is on the rebels' northern front, this week unless the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees drove out Rwandans he says are armed by the Zairian government.