THE ZAlREAN rebel leader, Mr Laurent Kabila, declared a ceasefire around this captured city yesterday, and said Kinshasa and a diamond centre were next.
The Congolese Red Cross, meanwhile, said members of ailing President Mobutu Sese Seko's, family had joined Zaireans taking refuge in neighbouring Congo in the face of rebel advances.
At his headquarters in the eastern border city of Goma, Mr Kabila said he was declaring a temporary ceasefire for 20 kms (13 miles) around Kisangani to allow in aid and let people return. Some 100,000 refugees fleeing the rebels are massed around Ubundu, 100 kms south-east of Kisangani.
Addressing more than 10,000 supporters in Goma yesterday, Mr Kabila said the next rebel targets were the capital, Kinshasa, and diamond-mining capital of Mbuju-Mayi in central Kasai region.
Kisangani fell after a four-day battle north of the city against troops backed by Serb mercenaries, who fled an airport base last Friday following a reign of terror, residents said.
With rumours of an army coup rife in Kinshasa, Mobutu's son said the president was able to walk unaided in his hospital room in Monaco and planned to return home to try to stop the rebels. The president was admitted to hospital in Monte Carlo for treatment of prostate cancer on Sunday.
France, which has backed, Mobutu, yesterday renewed its appeals to the rebels to agree to a ceasefire. A senior US official visited Paris for talks on the crisis.