The Mobutu Government responded to the rebel advance with a call for peace.

Tenke, which had originally signed a contract with the Mobutu Government, concluded the agreement with the rebels last week.

Under the Mobutu Government, the worst thieves were the soldiers, and the new troops who have defeated Mr. Mobutu's forces are clearly better-mannered.

Today, however, Zaire's army has been completely discredited by the corruption of the Mobutu Government and its disastrous conduct of the war.

Zaire's current suffering cannot be fully understood without historical reference to the Pretoria-Kinshasa axis that has helped to create and sustain the Mobutu Government.

But the scandal could hardly have come at a worst time for the Mobutu Government.

As such, Western donors have been increasingly unwilling to overlook shortcomings of the Mobutu Government, accusing the 60-year-old leader of corruption and human rights violations.

Their goal is to topple the Mobutu Government.

But he also said that the Mobutu Government "had lost the legitimacy to govern Zaire during the transition to democracy."

For the third time in two years, the Mobutu Government has introduced a new currency in an effort to solve its chronic liquidity crisis.