With insurgents threatening an assault on the capital, U.S. soldiers and helicopter gunships are poised to evacuate Americans. But officials hope talks this week between Zaire's president and the rebel leader will head off more bloodshed.
Preparations continued for a second face-to-face meeting between President Mobutu Sese Seko and rebel leader Laurent Kabila, possibly aboard the same ship used for the meeting a week ago.Since the fighting began in September to topple Mobutu, rebels have advanced steadily, and Kabila says his fighters are now 30 miles from Kinshasa.
While most people believe the rebels can take the city, some of Mobutu's elite forces would be likely to put up stiff resistance.
U.S. Navy Cmdr. Bob Anderson said Americans began finalizing their evacuation plans last week.
A mission of 100 U.S. Marines using two CH-53 transport helicopters, two CH-46 transport helicopters and two Cobra helicopter gunships as escorts were ready to react quickly if fighting starts in Kinshasa, Anderson said.
Meanwhile, another 6,000 malnourished, sick Rwandan refugees have been found in a camp previously sealed off by Zairian rebels, U.N. officials said Monday.
The team also said more people were emerging from the dense tropical forest near Obilo, 50 miles south of Kisangani, Zaire's main city in the northeast. The rebels had blocked access to Obilo since May 2, after reports of attacks on refugees by Zairian villagers and rebel soldiers.
"The people were clearly in a desperate situation," U.N. refugee spokesman Julian Fleet said from Kisangani. "They seemed exhausted. There were corpses lying around the camp, next to where people were cooking and sleeping."