Zaire’s Kabila Keeps Grip on Power With New Cabinet

KINSHASA, Zaire — President Laurent Kabila today announced the partial formation of a government that places most power in his own hands while eliminating the post of prime minister, setting the stage for angry confrontations with opposition supporters.

The late-night announcement ended Etienne Tshisekedi’s chances of holding the prime minister’s job he had demanded.

“It’s a presidential system,” the new information minister, Raphael Genda, said at a news conference.

The decision appeared to be the result of a standoff between Kabila and Tshisekedi, the country’s most prominent opposition activist who had made clear that he would settle for nothing less than the top job.

“The reason why there is no Tshisekedi is political,” said Gaetan Kakudji, a top official of Kabila’s Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo.

Thirteen Cabinet ministers were named, with seven coming from the alliance and the others from other political groups, including two from Tshisekedi’s party.

None came from parties allied with the ousted regime of Mobutu Sese Seko.

“We were open to any tendency except Mobutu’s followers, those who terrorized and oppressed our people,” Kakudji said. “We’ve forgiven, but we can’t forget what the oppressors did.”

On Thursday, hundreds of Tshisekedi supporters gathered outside the activist’s home in Kinshasa, the capital, to support his bid to be prime minister, a job he held and was ousted from several times under Mobutu.

Standing before a huge portrait of Tshisekedi propped against the hedge surrounding his house, the supporters warned that they will oppose Kabila unless he shares power.

“It will prove he’s a dictator just like Mobutu if he ignores the people’s wishes,” Wamulumba Mulumba said.

The United States has urged Kabila to form an inclusive government, and the U.S. ambassador to the neighboring Republic of Congo noted Thursday that Mobutu paid the price for keeping all power to himself.

“Mobutu is responsible for the rebellion, because he never brought in all those elements of the opposition,” Aubrey Hooks told reporters in Brazzaville, across the river from Kinshasa.

Such comments at home and from abroad indicate the delicacy of transforming a rebel movement into a government able to meet the demands of an impatient population kept in check during nearly 32 years of Mobutu rule.

Tshisekedi and others imprisoned and abused for fighting the Mobutu regime expect to be rewarded for their efforts, but Kabila must weigh their demands with those of rebel officials who worked with him throughout the war.

Kabila can ill-afford to anger Tshisekedi’s supporters, who proved their strength over the years with strikes that crippled the capital and marches that led to fierce clashes between protesters and Mobutu’s soldiers.

At the same time, it is doubtful that Kabila will want to give too powerful a position to a man with little international respect who is prone to rash moves and has shown little inclination to compromise.

Kabila’s difficulties in creating a new government became clear when he failed to keep his promise to do so within 72 hours of Saturday’s takeover.

The relatively peaceful rebel takeover of Kinshasa led Belgium to announce Thursday that it will start withdrawing its 750 paratroopers from the Republic of Congo.

Belgium, like the United States and others, had troops on standby during the rebel advance, prepared to evacuate foreign nationals.

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. James Graybeal said there have been discussions about when to pull out American troops, but no decision.

About 2,000 Americans are in the Republic of Congo and on ships offshore.

Mobutu, who fled Kinshasa ahead of Kabila’s forces, and his entourage were in the West African country of Togo.

Sources close to the government there said on condition of anonymity that he would head for Morocco today. Moroccan officials have said they expect Mobutu to stop over en route to France.

Sources in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, said Thursday that at least 100 friends and relatives of Mobutu--including his son, Kongolo--had arrived on two flights from Togo looking for refuge.