Rebels Continue Sweep Across Eastern Zaire

GOMA, Zaire —  Zairian rebels said Friday that they had seized a town on the Zambian border and were poised to capture the last government stronghold in eastern Zaire.

They took Kasenga, 135 miles northeast of Lubumbashi, the capital of the mineral-rich Shaba province, rebel spokesman Nyembwe Kazadi said.

The rebels vowed to continue their westward offensive in their bid to topple the regime of ailing President Mobutu Sese Seko.

Kazadi said the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire continued past Kasenga, which they captured Thursday, and was about 60 miles from Lubumbashi.

He said Lubumbashi could fall before the first direct negotiations with Mobutu’s representatives, expected next week in South Africa.

“We won’t stop moving,” he said by telephone from Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian capital. “The sooner the talks on the cease-fire, the better for them.”

Zairian officials had no immediate comment on the reported fall of Kasenga.

A government negotiator, however, said in Kinshasa, the capital, that the Zairian government and rebels had agreed that a cease-fire would begin simultaneously with the start of talks.

But the rebels insisted again that the talks must precede any cease-fire.

Zaire had been holding out for a cease-fire before any talks to end the five-month war.

The insurgents have swept through much of eastern Zaire, defeating undisciplined and poorly paid government troops.

Soldiers in the demoralized army usually go on violent looting sprees before retreating.

On March 15, the rebels captured Kisangani, Zaire’s third-largest city, and they now have turned to the country’s rich diamond- and copper-mining areas.

Under pressure from African leaders and foreign countries, the rebels agreed to negotiations that they hope will end Mobutu’s 32-year dictatorship.

Kazadi said rebel leader Laurent Kabila will not attend the negotiations himself unless Mobutu, who has prostate cancer, also goes to South Africa.

“What we agreed is negotiations in order to get a cease-fire,” Kazadi said.