"The End Game is Approaching"

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KINSHASA, Zaire: As rebel forces advanced within 60 miles of Zaire's embattled capital, U.N. mediators worked feverishly for a last-minute peace deal and State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns urged Americans to leave, saying "the end game is approaching." U.S. troops were preparing to evacuate Americans from the capital. On Tuesday, Mobutu Sese Seko's government imposed a dusk to dawn curfew on the city's residents. Although officials said the restrictions were imposed to prevent looting and unrest among civilians, it is government soldiers who have ransacked other cities as Kabila's troops advanced. Fearing that the final battle is near, shops and stalls at the central market closed early, while police roamed the downtown area, stopping people to demand bribes. Opposition parties, hoping to convince Mobutu to resign, have called for a general strike Wednesday to coincide with the president's planned talks with Kabila in Pointe-Noire, Congo.