21.   He also reiterated the US demand that the Zairean government reach an agreement with rebel leader Laurent Kabila.

22.   He met Wednesday with UN special envoy Raymond Chretien for talks on the refugee crisis in his country sparked by fighting between Tutsi rebels and Zairean government troops.

23.   He said the Zairean government had lodged a strong protest with the authorities in Kampala over the incursion.

24.   He said Washington hoped the Zairean government and Mobutu himself will take steps to avert a repetition of the massacres.

25.   His view is shared by many Zambians who have suffered at the hands of the notoriously indisciplined Zairean government army in the neighbouring country.

26.   Hundreds of thousands of civilians are fleeing the fighting which has flared between Zairean government troops and rebel Tutsis, mainly from a group known as the Banyamulenge.

27.   Hundreds of thousands of Hutu refugees fled camps along the Rwandan border following the outbreak of fighting in October between Zairean government forces and Tutsi rebels.

28.   However, the Zairean government issued a sharp warning that agencies could be barred from operating on Zairean soil if they dealt with rebel forces.

29.   If true -- and the claim could not immediately be verified -- this would be another big blow to the Zairean government in Kinshasa.

30.   However, the rebels and Zairean government disagree over which should come first.