Troops Allow Congo Leader’s Foes to March Despite Ban

Troops loyal to newly installed President Laurent Kabila allowed hundreds of his opponents to march peacefully through the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday in defiance of a ban, witnesses said.

The march was smaller than a Wednesday protest--broken up by soldiers firing automatic weapons--against the exclusion of veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi from the government and against the presence of Rwandan troops allied with the rebels.

Plans for a pro-Kabila demonstration fizzled when only about 30 people turned up.

As the anti-Kabila protest made its way to Tshisekedi’s home, it was followed by trucks full of dozens of troops. But they did not intervene.

Some bystanders said they would have joined the protest but were frightened off by the military presence.

Others in the poverty-ridden city said they could not afford to spend valuable time taking part in demonstrations.

In the town center, it was business as usual.

“There are those who want to march, but most people want to get on with their studies,” said Lambert Moamba, 23, a civil aviation student.

Kabila took office promising to hold elections by April 1999 and eradicate the legacy of Mobutu Sese Seko, the dictator ousted after a seven-month military campaign backed by Rwanda and Uganda.

But among the tens of thousands of people who attended Kabila’s inauguration on Thursday and heard him pledge democratic intentions were students who chanted slogans accusing him of trying to squash democracy and rule with the help of ethnic Tutsi troops from Rwanda.

Kabila’s Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire has banned political activity and demonstrations, citing the need to preserve public order.