ZAIRE: Signs of Support

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All things considered, it was not a bad week for Zaïre's beleaguered President, Mobutu Sese Seko. After all, he had been struggling for a month to combat, both politically and militarily, the invasion of his country's Shaba region by exiles who had fled the former secessionist province of Katanga in the mid-1960s. Finally, last week, Mobutu got some important signs of support from his friends.

Zaïre spokesmen announced that King Hassan II of Morocco had agreed to rush about 1,500 troops to support government forces in the mineral-rich southeastern district. The Moroccans—with Washington's apparent blessing —were expected to join the effort to defend Kolwezi (pop. 150,000), the center of the copper-mining industry that provides Zaïre with more than 60% of its foreign exchange. Zaïre also disclosed that another African country, possibly Egypt, would also send troops. Uganda and the Sudan have promised supplies, France promised air support and China began airlifting 30 tons of aid to Zaïre.

Enhanced Stature. Meanwhile, military activity in Shaba itself last week was at something of a standstill. In keeping with his charge that the Katangese invaders are armed with sophisticated Soviet weapons and are supported by Cuban advisers from neighboring Angola, Mobutu suspended diplomatic relations with Havana.

Now, with Moroccan and other foreign troops arriving in Zaïre to support

Mobutu, some observers speculate that the Katangese invaders may be tempted to make a fast push for Kolwezi.

On the other hand, as one Western diplomat in Kinshasa put it late last week, the new support from Morocco and the others "is a plus because it shows that Mobutu is not isolated. The Africans respect force. If Mobutu can put forces in the field, even foreign ones, it will inevitably enhance his stature."

Faced with the Katangese invasion—which may be part of larger Soviet designs in Africa—and with rising dissatisfaction among his own people because of high prices and corruption, Mobutu has vented his frustrations on foreign newsmen, who were branded "an irresponsible gang of adventurers" by the government-controlled press. Zaïre even expelled Associated Press Correspondent Michael Goldsmith for reporting—quite accurately —that a major rally, called by Mobutu to demonstrate popular support for his regime, had been marked by "an almost complete lack of enthusiasm." No matter. At week's end the government turned out 70,000 people for a better organized rally in a Kinshasa stadium.