Congo Places President's Son in Charge

K I N S H A S A, Congo, Jan. 17 -- Congolese officials temporarily placed President Laurent Kabila's son in charge of the government today, a day after numerous foreign officials said the ruler of this troubled nation was shot and killed during a coup attempt.

Communications Minister Dominique Sakombi Inongo, who made theannouncement on state-run television after an emergency Cabinetmeeting, insisted Kabila was injured but alive.

The news came as Congolese officials appeared to be strugglingto fill a power vacuum in the already unstable, naturalresource-rich Central African country, where a 2 ½-year civil warhas turned into a regional conflict involving troops from a host ofAfrican nations.

As dawn broke over the capital today, tanksand soldier-filled trucks patrolled quiet and empty streets ashelicopters cruised overhead.

The younger Kabila, Joseph, is already head of the armed forcesand was reported to have been injured in the coup attempt.State-run television broadcast footage of him sitting alonesilently, though it was not immediately clear when the images wererecorded.

Reports of His Death Have Been Widely Disputed

Presidential spokesman Lambert Kaboye earlier said in atelephone interview that the elder Kabila was evacuated overnight to anundisclosed country, where he was receiving intensive treatment. Hedeclined to elaborate.

A lobbyist and public relations consultant who acts as Kabila'sspokesman in the United States, however, said the president hadbeen fatally shot.

"He's died," John Aycoth said Tuesday by telephone fromDurham, N.C., citing top-level Congolese officials.

Officials from Angola, Congo's close ally, also said Kabila hadbeen killed.

In Zimbabwe, another ally, top-ranking government officials toldthe state-run news agency today that Kabila died en route tothe capital, Harare, where he had been evacuated for his safety.The government was waiting for instructions on what to do with thebody, according to the unidentified officials.