CROWDS of youths marched through the capital of the newly-named Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday chanting "Kabila is a dictator".
Hours earlier, the rebel alliance of self-declared president Mr Laurent Kabila had announced a government which did not include the main opposition party leader, Mr Etienne Tshisekedi.
Mr Tshisekedi, who enjoys considerable popularity in Kinshasa, has dismissed the new administration as illegitimate. He says that unless there is a meeting between himself and the alliance leader, the people must reject the authority of the new regime.
"Until today I haven't been able to meet my brother [Laurent Kabila]," Mr Tshisekedi told supporters and foreign media at his home in the capital. "His collaborators have done everything to stop me from seeing him.
It was by any standards a display of extraordinary pique by a man who has repeatedly compromised himself in the pursuit of political power. Mr Tshisekedi was three times named prime minister under the regime of ousted president Mr Mobutu Sese Seko and three times sacked.
The rebel Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL) sees him as a self-serving opportunist who does not deserve to be rewarded once more with the prime ministerial office. "It's not at all surprising that Tshisekedi was left out," says one western diplomat. "He had it coming to him."
Of the 13 cabinet posts announced in the early hours of yesterday morning, nine went to the ADFL, two to the opposition Patriotic Front and two, to members of Mr Tshisekedi's opposition UDPS (they have since been disowned by the party).
Another seven posts have yet to be announced. The transitional authority is to rule until elections are held at a yet undetermined date. Under the American-style system, Mr Kabila is head of both state and government.
The prime ministerial post coveted by Mr Tshisekedi does not exist. When asked by journalists why Mr Tshisekedi did not figure in the line-up, an alliance spokesman said it was wrong to have "fixed ideas" about one man.
It is understood that Mr Tshisekedi was offered the position of vice president by the ADFL's second-in-command Mr Deogratias Bugera. Questioned about the offer by journalists, Mr Tshisekedi twisted and turned before finally admitting "Maybe". Who is this Mr Bugera?" he asked. "He is no one. I don't care if he is second highest or third highest in the AFDL. That is his problem not mine. The least Mr Kabila could have done was to agree to meet me.
Supporters of Mr Tshisekedi's party claim they prepared the ground for the rebel alliance and that Mr Kabila could not have deposed Mr Mobutu without them. Reuter adds:
Mr Kabila's troops fired into the air in Kinshasa to break up a protest by Tshisekedi supporters yesterday. Morocco took in Mr Mobutu, who arrived from Togo. The French Prime Minister, Mr Alain Juppe said France would consider an asylum request from him if it received one.
Mr Kabila offered asylum and "total personal security" to Mr Mobutu. The new Foreign Minister, Mr Bizima Karaha, said: "If he does not want to stay in Kinshasa, he has his village. He can stay there and import the money he exported for 32 years to contribute to the reconstruction of the country."
The country's borders remained closed, and the European humanitarian aid commissioner, Ms Emma Bonino, demanded that Mr Kabila give relief workers access to determine the fate of 280,000 mostly Rwandan refugees believed to be stranded in the east of the country.
In Washington, the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, expressed concern and urged Mr Kabila to broaden his cabinet.