Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko finally reached the ship where he will hold his first face-to-face talks with rebel leader Laurent Kabila, and aides insisted Friday he would not resign.
Earlier, Mobutu had balked at getting on a helicopter to the ship and appeared too weak to drive to the dock and climb up 31 steep stairs to the ship.Zairian Foreign Minister Gerard Kamanda wa Kamanda, who was already aboard the South African naval vessel, said doctors had warned that the helicopter vibrations would be too hard on Mobutu, 66, who suffers from prostate cancer.
Five hours later, a plank was lowered from the ship and Mobutu was driven aboard a side portal of the SAS Outeniqua. He did not speak to reporters but waved and smiled through the car window.
When asked whether Mobutu would step down after nearly 32 years in power - which Kabila has demanded before agreeing to a cease-fire - Mobutu chief of staff Felix Vunduwe said, "No. Why should he?"
"They have come to obtain a cease-fire and to obtain a precise framework for negotiations about the transition process," Vunduwe said.
Kabila's troops, which have already captured more than half the country, are reported to be advancing toward Kinshasa, the capital.
South African President Nelson Mandela was ready and waiting on the ship to help mediate the talks.
"We are dealing with two outstanding leaders who are conscious of the importance of an amiable settlement which will satisfy both of them, as well as the people of Zaire," Mandela said.
However, state television in Harare, Zimbabwe, Friday quoted Kabila as saying the talks would be postponed until Saturday.
"I have been told the meeting will now be on Saturday because Mobutu has changed his mind again," Kabila told the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper reported Friday that Kabila met Thursday with President Robert Mugabe, who takes over as chairman of the Organization for African Unity in June.
In the northeastern city of Kisangani, meanwhile, U.N. aid workers flew nearly 800 Rwandan refugees home Friday and tried to care for several thousand others. On Thursday, more than 1,500 were flown out of eastern Zaire.
After weeks of delaying tactics, rebels want the United Nations to quickly repatriate the 80,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees in camps south of Kisangani.
The refugees fled into the dense jungle last week when Zairian mobs attacked them, reportedly killing hundreds. Thousands have emerged in the last few days, vainly searching for food and medicine.