Senior government officials, including the Foreign Minister, Dr Bizima Karaha, have fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as an army brigade in the east of the former Zaire announced a rebellion against President Laurent Kabila.
Dr Karaha, a medical doctor who doubled as Gen Kabila's chief political strategist, in a phone call in Johannesburg confirmed he was out of the country but his phone went dead shortly afterwards.
Sources said Dr Karaha had fled together with the powerful Presidential Affairs Minister, Mr Deogratias Bugera.
News of the two men's departure followed shooting in the capital Kinshasa which led to the declaration of a curfew and an announcement by the Congo's 10th battalion, based in the eastern Kivu province, that it had rebelled against Gen Kabila.
It was unclear just when the ministers left. Kinshasa newspapers reported last week that Mr Bugera had fled. There was no official word from Kinshasa on the whereabouts of the two ministers.
"The two men are certainly no longer in the Congo. We believe they have fled because of the chaotic developments in the Congo," a regional source said.
The sources said Mr Moise Nyarugabo, who worked as Gen Kabila's chief aide during last year's military campaign against the late dictator, Mr Mobutu Sese Seko, had also fled, while Gen Kabila was said to have arrested seven senior army officers including the commander of the military police.
Diplomats said the chaos in the Congo was a direct result of last week's troop withdrawal by the tiny but militarily powerful neighbouring Rwanda.
Rwanda was the backbone of a regional African alliance that propelled Gen Kabila to power after a lightning seven-month campaign ignited by ethnic Banyamulenge Tutsis. Relations between Gen Kabila and his Rwandan and Ugandan allies have since soured, in part over the status of the Banyamulenge and how to handle persistent insecurity in the volatile east and over accusations of tribal government appointments.
The Banyamulenge migrated to present-day Congo 200 years ago but successive Congolese governments have discriminated against them. Gen Kabila promised to treat them equally but officials say he now mainly favours people from his Katanga province.
They said Gen Kabila had surrounded himself with relatives. The Interior Minister, Mr Gaetan Kakudji, is Gen Kabila's cousin, the army chief of staff, Gen Celestin Kifwa, is a brother-inlaw, and the deputy chief of staff, Gen Joseph Kabila is his son.
Witnesses in the Rwandan frontier towns of Cyangugu and Goma said yesterday both sides had closed their common border. The regional sources said Goma and Bukavu airports had been closed by the rebellious 10th battalion.