BELGIUM: CONGO: NZANGA MOBUTU SPEECH

(23 Jan 2001) Eng/French/Nat The son of Congo’s late dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, has expressed regret for the assassination of the man who overthrew his father. But speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, Nzanga Mobutu said the death of President Laurent Kabila opened new opportunities to reconcile the factions fighting for control of the vast nation. Just as the slain president’s son, Joseph Kabila, was appointed president last week after his father’s killing, the younger Mobutu would also like to play a political role. He called on the new president to open up talks to end the civil war, bring in opposition figures and eventually hold elections. Joseph Kabila and Nzanga Mobutu have never met, but they have a lot in common. Both men are 30-years-old, and both have lived much of their lives outside of their troubled homeland. Joseph Kabila lived in exile in Tanzania and Uganda while his father waged various rebel struggles. Mobutu