Rebels Offer Truce; Summit Also Urged

Rebels approaching the country’s capital, Kinshasa, offered a cease-fire and talks with President Laurent Kabila, as South African President Nelson Mandela called for a regional summit. “We are ready for a cease-fire. We are ready for negotiations with Kabila, because we believe the problems of the Congo are political and beg a political solution,” said Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, head of the rebel Congolese Democratic Coalition. There was no immediate reaction by the government to the cease-fire offer. After meeting Namibian President Sam Nujoma in Cape Town, Mandela called for a regional summit to address the Congo issue.