U.S. Suggests Ailing President Resign

The Clinton administration has been pressing President Mobutu Sese Seko, a U.S. ally for 25 years, to resign and go into exile to help his nation achieve a settlement to civil war, according to a senior administration official. Although the administration has stopped short of publicly urging Mobutu to step down, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs George E. Moose called Mobutu’s regime “bankrupt” and “a thing of the past.” So far, Mobutu, 66, who is reportedly gravely ill with prostate cancer, has not responded positively to the U.S. message, declaring a state of emergency in the Central African nation even as the remnants of his disintegrating army battled to defend Zaire’s second-largest city, Lubumbashi, against rebels who have seized a third of the country.