President Mobutu Sese Seko left his threatened capital Wednesday aboard his private Boeing 727 and flew to Gabon. With rebel troops approaching Kinshasa, it's unclear whether he will come back.
The ailing dictator walked slowly from his plane, using a wooden staff and wearing his trademark leopard-skin hat, to a red-carpet welcome in the Atlantic city of Libreville, Gabon.Mobutu ignored reporters who called out, asking whether he would return to Kinshasa.
After a welcome kiss from President Omar Bongo of Gabon, the Zairian president stepped into a burgundy Rolls Royce, bypassing the honor guard, and drove off to the presidential palace for a two-day conference.
He is meeting with the leaders of African countries who have supported him during his seven-month war with rebel leader Laurent Kabila. Heads of state from Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Togo, Congo and Equatorial Guinea were to arrive later Wednesday.
Mobutu spokesmen said he would return Friday to Kinshasa, dismissing speculation he might be headed into exile following his failure to secure a cease-fire at a weekend summit.
"This meeting was planned before that summit," Information Minister Kin-Kiey Mulumba said. "He is returning to Kinshasa afterward."
One aide, however, said on condition of anonymity Tuesday that Mobutu probably would head to France.
Mobutu, 66, has a villa on the French Riviera, where he spent months recuperating after prostate cancer treatment. France for decades helped prop up Mobutu's regime.
Kinshasans ignored Mobutu's heavily armed motorcade Wednesday as it traveled through the streets toward the airport. The rebels claimed 80 French mercenaries had been deployed to defend Kinshasa's international airport, but journalists were not allowed near it Wednesday.
Mobutu has made no public statements since his face-to-face meeting Sunday with Kabila, who now controls about three-fourths of Zaire.
U.S. envoy Bill Richardson sought a peaceful settlement during the weekend talks aboard a South African ship off Congo. But Kabila repeated his demand that Mobutu resign. Mobutu, in turn, demanded an immediate cease-fire.