THE FATE and whereabouts of the ousted Zairean president, Mr Mobutu Sese Seko (66) who is suffering from prostate cancer, remained uncertain yesterday. A spokesman for the rebels vowed that they would hunt him and his clan down "wherever he goes".
"With us, he will never be in peace. Wherever he goes, we will find him," said Mr Zamba Afri Kounyen, a spokesman in France for the rebel Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Zaire Congo (AFDL).
"If Mobutu comes into exile in France, we will start planting bombs," Mr Kounyen warned after French police prevented him and supporters from taking over the Zairean embassy in Paris.
Mr Mobutu owns a mansion on the French Riviera, but French officials say they are not aware of his whereabouts and plans. Commentators say that Paris is unlikely to offer him shelter, at least before the May 25th-June 1st parliamentary elections, for fear that his presence would be a campaign issue.
The demise of the Mobutu regime sparked controversy in the campaign for the election, with politicians on the right and on the left accusing each other of backing the fallen African strongman.
"The current government was wrong to support president Mobutu, whom we tried to keep at a distance," the opposition Socialist Party leader, Mr Lionel Jospin, said at a rally in southwest France.
The Foreign Minister, Mr Herve de Charette, taking part in a television debate against former Socialist defence minister, Mr Jean Pierre Chevenement, squarely laid the blame for French foreign policy on Zaire on the left. He recalled that the late Socialist president, Francois Mitterrand, "backed the Mobutu regime for 14 years".
A security official in Morocco said Mr Mobutu and his entourage had arrived there. He said they were staying at the Amphitrite hotel, some 20 km south of Rabat, and added that they were expected to move to Marrakesh.
It was also claimed that Mr Mobutu had arrived in Lome, the capital of the West African state of Togo. His plane was parked on a city airport runway and senior aides had been seen in a city hotel. However, a spokesman for the Togo presidency later said on television that the plane had only landed for refuelling.
Liechtenstein, responding to French news reports that Mr Mobutu might travel there, said he would not be welcome. Neighbouring Switzerland, where Mr Mobutu had cancer surgery in August, said on Saturday it would most probably reject any visa request from him. Within hours of his being ousted, Switzerland froze all the assets Mr Mbobutu and his family may have there. Swiss media have speculated that he may have some $4 billion stashed in Swiss bank accounts, but bankers were sceptical of this figure.
. Mr Mobutu escaped a rebel attack on his home town of Gbadolite but came under fire as he and members of his entourage fled by cargo plane, Togolese state television reported. The plane made a technical stop in Togo yesterday before flying on, most likely to Morocco.