THE Zairean rebel leader, Mr Laurent Kabila, has pulled out of an international peace summit intended to bring him into negotiations with President Mobutu Sese Seko, at least for the moment, sources in Angola said yesterday.
Later the ailing President Mobutu left a South African ship on which they were to meet, witnesses said.
Mr Mobutu, who had sailed with President Nelson Mandela of South Africa into international water's off West Africa for the planned rendezvous with Mr Kabila, left the SAS Outeniqua at Congo's port of Pointe Noire where he and Mr Mandela had boarded earlier in the day.
An official source in Luanda said earlier the South African Deputy President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, "has gone back to the boat - to explain that Kabila is not coming tonight. Kabila is not happy with the arrangements. I can't go into what that is."
Mr Mbeki's jet left Luanda Airport for Pointe Noire where he had been expected to join up with international envoys trying to broker peace talks between Zaire's warring sides on board the SAS Outeniqua.
Diplomatic sources said the President Mandela was becoming frustrated by the delays leading up to the planned face to face peace talks between Mr Mobutu and Mr Kabila. The sources reported Mr Mandela as saying: "We need to stop wasting time."
Chris McGreal reports from Kinshasa:
Earlier yesterday, President Mobutu succumbed to international pressure and flew to Congo for talks with Mr Kabila which diplomats predicted would secure the autocrat's resignation after 32 years in power.
But Mr Mobutu's hesitancy was evident as he initially refused to join President Mandela aboard the ship because he said he was too sick to climb the gangway or even to board by helicopter.
In the event, he was driven aboard the ship only to learn that Mr Kabila was staying in Angola "in principle" in the absence of guarantees concerning the talks and his personal safety.
As the talks bring in the balance, the rebels continued their drive toward Zaire's capital, Kinshasa, amid fresh reports that Angolan government forces have sided with the insurgents.
Mr Mobutu's agreement to meet Mr Kabila represented a significant climbdown for the Zairean leader after he dropped demands for a ceasefire before talks.
By contrast, the rebel leader stuck by his insistence that negotiations could only deal with the president's abdication. "The talks will just be about Mobutu and what we do with him," Mr Kabila said. "There can be no ceasefire or elections in this country until Mobutu and all he represents is removed and thrown away."
The Zairean leader had agreed to talks under pressure from a White House special envoy, Mr Bill Richardson, and after weeks of mediation by President Mandela
AFP adds: The head of a Catholic mission in Kinshasa said the town where Mr Mobutu was born had fallen to the rebels. Father Dominique Kahanga said that Lisala, which lies about 1,000 km north of the capital, fell on Thursday.