PRESIDENT Mobutu Sese Seko has grudgingly agreed to negotiate an end to Zaire's civil war personally, but he appears far from yielding to the key rebel demand that he relinquish power.
Mr Mobutu's son and spokesman, Mr Nzanga Mobutu, confirmed last night that his 66 year old father now was willing to meet rebel leader Mr Laurent Kabila, but he cast doubt on any prospect of Zaire's ruler of 32 years stepping aside.
Agreement on a meeting had been expected by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin.
The UN's special envoy on the Zairean crisis, Mohammed Sahnoun, said yesterday that the goal of a direct meeting between Zaire's two main protagonists would be to organise elections.
Speaking in Cape Town, where South African President, Mr Nelson Mandela, met on Wednesday with Mr Kabila, Mr Sahnoun said both sides had agreed to meet with no preconditions.
Mr Mandela, whose government is leading efforts to broker a negotiated settlement to the conflict has invited the two protagonists to meet in South Africa.
Observers say Mr Mobutu would prefer to stay closer to home. Political opponents have suggested that should he venture far afield, his tenuous grip on power risks sliding away altogether.
The latest pronouncements by Mr Kabila indicate he is intent on bringing the war to the Zairean capital should Mr Mobutu continue to refuse demands to step aside.
As he left Lubumbashi for the talks with Mr Mandela, Mr Kabila told reporters there was no question of a ceasefire in the war in which his guerrillas have captured half the country.
In a startling allegation, a close associate of the rebel leader said Mr Mobutu had ordered secret police and elite units to kill all expatriates in Kinshasa in a plot to trigger foreign intervention.
Mr Mwan Nanga Mawanpanga, said the massacre, which could start "at any minute," was a plot to prevent rebels from overthrowing Mr Mobutu.
Mr Mawanpanga said: "The AFDL (rebel alliance) has learned from very reliable sources that Mobutu and his team have charged the presidential guard and the secret police to kill all expatriates who live in Kinshasa and in this way to put those killings on our forces ... to attract intervention by foreign forces and ... prevent the victory of our forces."
Asked how the rebels had this information, he said: "This statement was given to me by the President (Kabila) himself. He does not joke. We have intelligence sources.
Diplomats spoken to by The Irish Times remain cautious about the prospects of a quick, peaceful end of the conflict.