KINSHASA - Mr Laurent Kabila, self-proclaimed president of the former Zaire, will not appoint a prime minister, one of his chief lieutenants told reporters early today. "There will be no prime minister. It is a presidential regime," Mr Gaetan Kakudji of the victorious alliance which ousted ex-President Mobutu Sese Seko on May 17th, told a news conference.
Earlier Mr Kabila named an incomplete government after five hours of closed-door talks. Hours behind a scheduled announcement of the transitional government, the Information Minister, Mr Raphael Ghenda, went on state radio to read out a list of 13 ministers. There was no mention of the veteran opposition leader, Mr Etienne Tshisekedi, whom Mr Kabila is under pressure to appoint prime minister.
The key Foreign, Interior, Finance and Mines ministries were all given to members of Mr Kabila's Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL). No defence minister was named in the initial list. There was also no sign of a planned meeting between Mr Kabila and Mr
Tshisekedi. Hundreds of militants have been virtually camping in solidarity outside Mr Tshisekedi's home.
In The Hague, the EU had said it hoped to see a broad-based transitional government and would send a mission to convey its views to Mr Kabila. In Addis Ahaba, it was announced that Mr Kabila would attend an Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in Zimbabwe in June as head of state. Meanwhile, Egypt and Japan became the latest countries to recognise the new regime. Mr Mobutu is due to leave Togo for Morocco today, reliable sources said in Lome.