Congo PM flees rebel charge

The Congo Republic's Prime Minister, Bernard Kolelas, and some of his ministers have fled to Kinshasa to escape an advance by former military leader Denis Sassou Nguesso, a senior Congolese army officer said yesterday.

But the officer said the whereabouts of President Pascal Lissouba were unknown after a lightning Angolan-backed offensive by rebel militia in the oil-producing country. The officer said Mr Kolelas' arrival signalled the formal collapse of Lissouba's administration and he confirmed that Nguesso's forces were now in control of the capital Brazzaville.-- Reuters