FRANCE'S Socialist opposition has pounced on the ousting of Zaire's president, Mr Mobutu Sese Seko, as a failure for President Jacques Chirac's Africa policy, a week before a French parliamentary election.
The fall of Mr Mobutu could have a domino effect on French backed governments in neighbouring Congo and the Central Republic, where Paris has its biggest military base on the continent. The Socialist leader, Mr Lionel Jospin, accused the centre right government of having renewed French support for Mr Mobutu after other Western countries had ostracised him for his record on corruption and human rights.
The rout of Mr Mobutu by rebels led by the English speaking Mr Laurent Kabila, backed by Uganda and Rwanda, is widely seen as a defeat for French influence on the continent and a sign of growing US influence.
Zaire's sprawling capital regained its vibrant pace yesterday, the first working day after the overthrow of Mr Mobutu. In a strong sign of confidence in the new regime, the Zaire currency more than doubled in value against the dollar.
Mr Kabila, self proclaimed president of the new Democratic Republic of Congo, is expected to unveil a new transitional government today after his second in command, Mr Deogratias Bugera, held consultations with politicians in Kinshasa.
Mr Bugera said that elections would be held in the country only after the people had been re educated. The elections would be transparent and open to all.
Japan, a major importer of metals from Zaire, hinted it would recognise Kabila's government, following a similar move by South Africa and cautious endorsement by the United States. Germany said it was ready to cooperate with Kabila and joined Western calls for a rapid transition to democracy.
Meanwhile Mr Mobutu's precise whereabouts remained unknown. In Paris a Zairean diplomat reported that Mr Mobutu wanted to settle in France at the villa he owns on the Riviera.
The ousted president travelled to Lome, Togo, on Sunday but it was not known whether he was still there yesterday. He owns a lavish estate in the town of Roquebrune Cap Martin on France's Mediterranean coast and also has a large flat in one of Paris's most expensive neighbourhoods. The French foreign ministry said it had no information on what Mr Mobutu planned to do.
. It was reported from Goma that Rwandan Hutu extremists, members of the former Rwandan army and the Interahamwe militia, are pushing back into Rwanda after clashes with rebel forces. A Large group of armed Rwandans fighting soldiers of Zaire's victorious rebel alliance near Katale, 40 km north of Goma, killed three rebels on Sunday.
. President Mugabe of Zimbabwe accused Mr Mobutu of looting his country and doing "absolutely nothing" to develop it. Mr Mugabe was quoted as making the comment during a meeting with the former Australian prime minister, Mr Bob Hawke, who is visiting Harare.