Hundreds, Fearing Assault by Troops, Flee Zairian City

Hundreds of residents of the rebel-held eastern Zairian city of Goma fled Wednesday, saying they feared a counterattack by Zairian troops following the return of President Mobutu Sese Seko to his country.

Residents said they had little confidence in the ability of Zairian rebels to defend the city, which fell in early November.

“Twenty members of my family left for Bukavu since [Tuesday]. They were afraid the arrival of Mobutu could mean the start of a new war,” school principal Juvenal Akilimali said.

Mobutu, who has previously depended on foreign forces, returned to Kinshasa on Tuesday after four months in Europe for cancer treatment. He pledged a positive and rapid response to Zaire’s crisis.

On Wednesday, he named a hard-line general as army chief. The new chief, Gen. Marc Mahele Lieko Bokungu, is the second general to take command of the demoralized army in the past month.

Since October, the rebels have seized a swath of territory about 300 miles long that runs from north to south.

Some residents said they were sending their families by bus from Goma toward Butembo to the north and Bukavu to the south, in the hopes that they would escape fighting.

Workers at Goma minibus companies said people started leaving Monday because of Mobutu’s return. At least 300 people left for rebel-held Butembo on Wednesday and more for Bukavu.

The exodus was based on a mixture of rumors and half-truths about Mobutu’s plans to recapture Goma and a popular belief that he still had the ability to galvanize the poorly paid Zairian army, which fled from the rebels.

A close friend of Mobutu who requested anonymity said that military hardware, including 15 helicopters and several jet fighters, have been brought into Zaire in the past three weeks, accompanied by 154 foreign military personnel.