Citation
PARIS, May 7 (Reuter) - French President Jacques Chirac's office denied
on Wednesday that his African affairs adviser was in the Zairean city of
Lubumbashi for talks with rebel leader Laurent Kabila, as reported by
rebel officials and diplomats.
Presidential spokeswoman Catherine Colonna told Reuters: Michel Dupuch
is in Paris and not in Zaire. He will meet (special U.S. envoy) Bill
Richardson at the Elysee palace tomorrow morning.
A Reuters report from Lubumbashi quoted rebel officials and diplomats as
saying Dupuch, a former ambassador to Abidjan, had arrived in rebel-held
Zaire along with retired French general Jeannou Lacaze for talks with
Kabila, whose forces have captured most of the country and are closing
in on Kinshasa.
But Colonna said Lacaze was not on any official mission and Dupuch was
not accompanying him. A reporter who telephoned the presidential
adviser's office was told he was in the building in a meeting.
Lacaze, a former armed forces chief of staff, has regularly visited
Iraq, officially on private business trips, maintaining a dialogue with
President Saddam Hussein while Paris and Baghdad have no diplomatic
relations in the wake of the Gulf War.
France has sought to establish discreet contacts with Kabila in recent
weeks after backing ailing President Mobutu Sese Seko up to the last
minute.
