ZAIRIAN REBEL LEADER, MOBUTU FAIL TO BRIDGE GAP IN 1-DAY CEASE-FIRE.

Byline: Howard W. French The New York Times

In his first meeting with the rebel leader who is trying to overthrow him, Zaire's president, Mobutu Sese Seko, said Sunday that he would relinquish power but only to a transitional authority that would organize national elections.

At a meeting on a South African warship in the Congolese port of Pointe-Noire, Mobutu's foe, Laurent Kabila, insisted that power be handed over to him directly. He vowed to press ahead with his military campaign against the government.

President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, who has been trying to broker an agreement, said the two sides agreed to meet again in six to eight days.

But the gulf between Mobutu, who has ruled Zaire for nearly 32 years, and Kabila appeared as wide after their daylong meeting as before it began. The stage appeared to be set for a rebel military takeover before a second meeting.

United Nations mediator Mohammed Sahnoun read a joint communique from Mobutu and Kabila, consisting of a restatement of each side's position.

After the meeting, Kabila lingered in talks with South African officials before taking off for Angola, which has been a major supporter of his rebel movement. Mobutu quickly left, reportedly heading for the airport at Pointe-Noire, but the members of his security service did not say where he was Sunday night.

Kabila said he had ordered a halt to fighting during the talks Sunday, but he reiterated his determination to press ahead with a war that has already brought his fighters to the outskirts of Kinshasa, the capital.

Kabila said the rebels could be inside the city Sunday night, but a regional military analyst said that, while some rebels could infiltrate sooner, it would take a week for Kabila's troops to arrive in force.

``Mobutu has asked me to give him eight days while he considers our demand to resign,'' Kabila said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

``I have agreed to that request and we shall meet again on this same ship within the next eight days. But I have told him and the mediators that there will be no cease-fire while he considers our demands.''

Foreign diplomats said that, by Sunday afternoon, large forces of rebels were less than 75 miles away, both to the south and to the east, of Zaire's teeming capital with a population of about 5 million.

A major objective of the international mediation has been to prevent an armed takeover of Kinshasa, which could set off looting by poorly paid and undisciplined soldiers, and perhaps a last stand by Mobutu's presidential guard.

Western diplomats said there were as many as 45,000 soldiers in Kinshasa, not counting the approaching rebels. There also were about 15,000 men left in the presidential guard number, but military experts said all but about 2,000 of the presidential guards were likely to leave.

Western diplomats have also been mounting a belated effort to ensure that Kabila does not seize power unchecked, potentially setting the stage for another dictatorship.