Zairian Rebel Chief Cheered in Seized City

MBUJI-MAYI, Zaire — Laurent Kabila flew into this diamond-mining heartland Monday to survey the latest conquest by his rebel force in its seven-month battle to unseat President Mobutu Sese Seko.

Kabila arrived in Mbuji-Mayi accompanied by foreign diamond-mining executives. “Laurent! Laurent!” a group of young men chanted at the airport. About 100 teenage boys yelled the rebel leader’s middle name: “Desire! Desire!”

As Kabila arrived in triumph, a protest march against Mobutu in the capital, Kinshasa, about 600 miles to the west, was broken up by soldiers who drove armored vehicles into the crowd, hurling tear gas and beating protesters with whips and sticks.

In Mbuji-Mayi, there were few signs of fighting, but rebels moved through the streets. Residents said people had been killed resisting Zairian army looters, but it was impossible to determine how many.

Diamond mining and trading are the backbone of Mbuji-Mayi’s economy. Although retreating Zairian troops did loot as they left in advance of the rebels, it appeared that business would soon get back to normal once the traders--most of them Lebanese--returned.

In South Africa, where representatives of Mobutu and the rebels continued to meet Monday, ostensibly to work out a cease-fire, talks appeared stalled.

Repeating Kabila’s original position, rebel representative Richard Wenu said there could be no progress without direct talks between Kabila and Mobutu, who is suffering from prostate cancer.

About 450 miles southeast of here, rebel forces were reported to be closing in on Lubumbashi, the capital of the mineral-rich Shaba region.