Around the World

Congo's president assassinated in coup

KINSHASA, Congo - President Laurent Kabila, the ruler of this vast and troubled nation, died yesterday after being shot, his U.S. spokesman said. The shooting came during a coup attempt, Congo officials said.

"He's died," said John Aycoth, a lobbyist and public relations consultant who acts as Kabila's spokesman in the United States.

Aycoth, speaking by telephone from Durham, N.C., said he had spoken to top level Congolese officials in Kinshasa who had confirmed Kabila's death.

The shooting could throw this vast Central African country into further turmoil. Congo has been convulsed since rebels launched a civil war against Kabila more than two years ago. Fighting has drawn in several neighboring nations, and rebels have gained control of large swaths of eastern Congo.

French and Belgian foreign ministry officials quoted local sources as saying they believed he died of his injuries following the half-hour firefight at the presidential palace here. Belgium is Congo's former colonial ruler and retains close ties with the nation, formerly named Zaire.

"From three sources I have that Kabila has most likely been shot to death," Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Louis Michel said in Brussels following a crisis meeting with the Cabinet.

Earlier, his spokesman, Koen Vervaeke, said, "He has probably been shot by one of his guards."

Intelligence officers in Rwanda also said they had unconfirmed reports that Kabila had been killed. Rwanda supports rebels who have been fighting to topple the Congolese strongman for more than two years.

The Congolese government, however, refused to elaborate publicly on the president's condition _ or even whether he'd been shot.

"President Kabila is alive and everything is OK," said Congolese Gen. Francois Olenga.

A member of Kabila's security entourage said on condition of anonymity that the bodyguard had shot the president, but that Kabila was alive and being treated by doctors.

The conflicting reports came hours after witnesses described gunfire around the home of Kabila, who has been fighting multiple rebel armies since 1998. It was unclear who was responsible for the

shooting.

A presidential helicopter landed at Kinshasa's main hospital, a government official who witnessed the event said, adding there were unconfirmed reports that the aircraft was carrying Kabila's son, Joseph Kabila, who had apparently been injured. The younger Kabila is the head of Congo's military.

Presidential aide Eddy Kapend went on national television shortly after the gunfire ended to appeal for calm, but he made no mention of the incident.

The bleary-eyed Kapend ordered that all airports and borders be closed, appealing to the armed forces and civil society leaders to help maintain order.

"The Congolese people need your serenity and your discipline," he said.

Later, Congolese Interior Minister Gaetan Kakudji announced an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew he said was ordered by Kabila himself.

Kakudji also put all fighting units in Kinshasa on alert until further notice.

Amid the confusion of the shooting, Kinshasa residents hurried home and many streets were quickly deserted. Truckloads of armed soldiers patrolled the streets in Congo's capital city.

Large numbers of troops in armored vehicles and on foot blocked off roads near Kabila's hilltop residence, not far from downtown Kinshasa. The presidential residence, known as the Marble Palace, is usually heavily guarded by troops and a North Korean-made tank.

U.S. officials in Washington warned Americans in Kinshasa to stay indoors following the shooting. No overall number of U.S. citizens in Congo was available, but there are 55 Americans in the diplomatic community.

There was no immediate comment from either the State Department or the White House on the shooting.

Kabila has been fighting a civil war since August 1998, when rebel forces backed by his former allies, Rwanda and Uganda, turned against him. In the war's early stages, the rebels reached the outskirts of Kinshasa before being turned back by Kabila's army, which is now supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Speaking from Brussels, Kin-Kiey Mulumba, a spokesman for one of the main rebel movements, insisted Kabila was dead. The shooting proved that the Congolese people wanted a change, he said, denying that rebels had anything to do with it.

"Something big happened in our country this afternoon. People want change," he said.

Kabila came to power in May 1997 following a Uganda- and Rwanda-sponsored rebellion against former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

The world community initially welcomed Kabila, who many hoped would be a vast improvement over Mobutu's decades-long rule, which left his nation desperately broke and with an infrastructure that barely functioned.

But Kabila quickly alienated himself, inviting close friends and relatives into the government, angering investors and obstructing a United Nations investigation of reports that his rebel army had slaughtered thousands of Hutu refugees.

Earthquake death toll approaches 700

SANTA TECLA, El Salvador - Bulldozers plowed through the wreckage of an earthquake-driven landslide yesterday after sniffer dogs and heartbeat detectors failed in a final, desperate attempt to locate any more survivors in this Salvadoran town.

The death toll rose to 682 and was expected to rise as authorities reach communities isolated by landslides. Officials said more than 2,500 people were injured by Saturday's quake.

Comasagua, a city 17 miles west of the capital that was rendered inaccessible by landslides, had been reduced to a jumble of mangled houses, although only six people were reported dead there. Hungry residents swarmed around U.S. Army helicopters bringing food, water and medicine.

"All we have is God and the helicopter that brings food," Fidelia Guardao said.

The soldiers loaded the food onto trucks, which rumbled into the downtown area where makeshift kitchens awaited the corn, rice and canned fish.