Zaire peace-talks imminent

The Zairean government and the Rwandan-backed rebels who have captured a swath of eastern Zaire seem to be on the brink of their first face-to- face talks in Cape Town.

Speculation that talks were already under way reached fever pitch yesterday after President Nelson Mandela said an aircraft was ready to fly the rebel leader Laurent Kabila to South Africa for talks with the nephew and chief military adviser of Mobutu Sese Seko, the ailing Zairean president. Mr Mandela said that South Africa was merely a host for the talks. Mary Braid - Johannesburg