Zaire Rejects U.N. Plan to End War

KINSHASA, Zaire — The government here rejected a U.N. proposal to end Zaire’s civil war, describing it Wednesday as a “timid advance” that fails to condemn neighboring African countries for supporting the rebels.

Nevertheless, South African President Nelson Mandela said the two sides may begin peace talks as early as today.

“The contending parties in that conflict . . . have made a request that they would like to meet in South Africa,” Mandela said in Cape Town after holding talks with African leaders.

Mandela said that rebel leader Laurent Kabila was in Kigali, Rwanda, awaiting a flight to Cape Town for the talks. An envoy for Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko also was in the region, Mandela said, without naming the envoy.

Zaire did not immediately comment on Mandela’s announcement.

Zairian Foreign Minister Gerard Kamanda wa Kamanda on Wednesday rejected a five-point peace plan passed the day before by the U.N. Security Council, calling it a “timid advance” that “we sincerely regret does not condemn aggression against Zaire.”

Zaire long has accused Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda of supporting and supplying the rebels who have seized a 900-mile-long swath of territory along the eastern border.