Leaflets calling for an end to President Mobutu Sese Seko's reign appeared on streets of the capital Tuesday, showing growing boldness by opponents of the oppressive regime as rebels advanced toward Kinshasa.
Peace talks aimed at preventing a battle for this city of 5 million people were planned for Wednesday, the same day as the start of a strike in Kinshasa aimed at assisting a rebel takeover.South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki called the meeting between Mobutu and rebel leader Laurent Kabila the likely last chance for a peaceful solution to the seven-month Zairian crisis.
While everyone agrees Mobutu's nearly 32-year rule is ending, deep differences remain on how it will happen. Kabila's rebels appear poised for an assault on Kinshasa that would succeed but could result in chaos and bloodshed.
Mbeki was flying to the region Tuesday to try to arrange final agreement on crucial issues of when and how Mobutu, 66 and ailing with prostate cancer, would hand over power.
On the streets, the leaflets left on cars or stacked on corners called for people to observe the villa morte, or dead city strike, called for Wednesday by political opposition groups and the rebels.
Other leaflets that appeared Tuesday, from the opposition youth movement, demanded the resignation of Mobutu, arrest of Zairian soldiers and rejection of a new 100,000 Zaire (about 60 U.S. cents) bill printed by the government as the currency devalues.
Other signs indicated fear of an impending battle for Kinshasa. The U.S. Embassy cut its staff from 37 to 25 people on Monday, and U.S. officials have stepped up preparations for evacuating an estimated 300 American citizens from the city.
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns called for all Americans to leave Kinshasa instead of waiting for trouble to begin.
In eastern Zaire, meanwhile, the U.N. Children's Agency said Tuesday that armed men in rebel uniforms barged into a UNICEF staff house, attacked its workers and demanded weapons.
UNICEF spokeswoman Marie Heuze said one of the five aid workers was hospitalized in Monday's attack in the eastern city of Goma.
She said UNICEF would await the outcome of an investigation into who was responsible before deciding whether to pull out or scale back its staff.
"Whatever the circumstances are, it is absolutely unacceptable that UNICEF staff should be subjected to such acts of terror," UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said in a statement.