About 40 Zairean students Tuesday ended a weeklong occupation of their embassy in Beijing after getting assurances from their government that it would send promised living allowances and plane tickets home.

The students began returning to their schools after holding their ambassador and his staff hostage in the walled compound since Aug. 15.The decision to leave was made after a 30-minute phone call from the Zairean ambassador in Belgium, Kimbulu Moyanso, who assured the students that approximately $187,500 in unpaid living allowances would be forwarded to Beijing within 10 days, said Qinghua University graduate Ngolo Kilubisha.

Government funds from Zaire, a former Belgian colony, are first transferred to banks in Belgium before being disbursed overseas.

Most of the more than 80 Zaire students in China have not been paid since June 1989, with some going without their Zaire government subsidies for two years. The students also get $54 per month from the Chinese government.

The students Tuesday received a telex from their education minister asking for a breakdown of money owed to each student and other details of their complaints.

The students said the head of Zaire's Culture Center in Belgium, which is responsible for its students studying overseas, will arrive in Beijing on Thursday to talk with the students.

Kilubisha said the students regarded these moves as signs the government was prepared to resolve their problems.

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