ZAIRE'S FACTIONS TALK PEACE : REBELS CONTINUE MILITARY MARCH.

Byline: Associated Press 

Negotiators for Zaire's warring factions sounded diplomatic Saturday at the start of their first face-to-face talks, throwing out terms like ``peace'' and ``democracy.''

But the rebels, who control a third of the country and are still taking ground, appeared unwilling to compromise.

Still, the government's decision to talk with rebel representatives was seen as a step in the right direction, considering that the last time negotiators were in the same room - a week earlier in Togo - they wouldn't even speak to each other.

Saturday's meeting coincided with an agreement by rebel leaders to allow an airlift of sick and dying Rwandan refugees from eastern Zaire, where some 120 refugees are dying every day.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, which led the international campaign to persuade the rebels to allow the airlift, has described some of the 100,000 refugees in the area south of Kisangani as ``walking cadavers.''

UNHCR spokeswoman Pam O'Toole said in Geneva that it would probably take two days to organize the airlift, partly because they have to determine which refugees are the most needy but are still able to be moved.

In Kinshasa, meanwhile, parliamentarians and the new prime minister declared each other unconstitutional, causing further confusion in a political system that has been convulsed by the insurgency.

Prime Minister Etienne Tshisekedi - who dismissed the parliament shortly after being installed in his post last week by President Mobutu Sese Seko - on Saturday said the parliament was unconstitutional and named a new government. He warned that no one should get in the way of his taking control.

Two groupings in parliament withdrew their support for Tshisekedi, saying he ``showed contempt for the constitution'' by dismissing parliament. The politicians said they would convene parliament Monday to nominate a new prime minister.

Such an action would need Mobutu's approval and place the longtime dictator once again in the position of controlling the country's political process.

In Pretoria, U.N. envoy Mohamed Sahnoun, who is mediating the talks with South Africa's deputy foreign minister, Aziz Pahad, cautioned against optimism for a cease-fire.

While the negotiators shook hands and grudgingly started talking, the rebels' six-month military march continued.

Rebel leader Laurent Kabila denied reports that his forces had captured Mbuji-Mayi, the capital of Zaire's diamond industry, but told French radio they were nearby and also were closing in on the country's second-largest city, Lubumbashi.

``Be there on Monday, that's a good date,'' he said when asked when Lubumbashi might fall.

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Photo

Photo: A United Nations aid worker hands out protein biscuits to mothers and children at a refugee camp near Kisangani, Zaire. Relief agents say as many as 120 of the 100,000 Rwandan refugees die each day.

Associated Press