THE business community in Zaire's capital, Kinshasa, made preparations yesterday in case a rapid rebel advance cut the city's main supply route.
Bankers said importers were looking at shifting supplies from Zaire's Atlantic port of Matadi to neighbouring Congo.
"At least one shipper is already doing it and others are considering doing so as well," said a Western banker.
The business community appeared to be reacting to the announcement on Saturday by the rebel leader, Mr Laurent Kabila, that he had recruited 100,000 new guerrillas and was ready to open another front for a final push to dislodge President Mobutu Sese Seko.
It won't take long. We'll be in Kinshasa very soon. We're only 200 km away from Kinshasa," Mr Kabila said in Zaire's second city of Lubumbashi, seized by his rebels just over a week ago.
His comments at a rally seemed to confirm widespread rumours in Kinshasa that rebel forces were grouping in western Zaire to cut off the capital from its only access to the sea.
Traders in Kinshasa said they had bought extra stock in the last few weeks in case supplies were cut or the city suffered a long siege.
The stock was stored in high-security warehouses to protect it against looting from Zaire's underpaid army, which has regularly run amok before fleeing the rebel advance.
The vast Central African state's only seaport is at Matadi on its small Atlantic coastline. It is the site of the country's oil refinery and the gateway for most imported goods.
Mr Kabila's announcement, even if exaggerated in terms of the number of recruits, looked certain to put more pressure on the ailing Mr Mobutu, who grudgingly agreed to meet the guerrilla leader in a desperate effort to negotiate an end to the spreading civil war.
Kinshasa is the last stronghold of Mr Mobutu and the government army. The rebels now control about half the country and look set to end his 32-year rule.
Mr Mobutu's government is trying to use what little diplomatic clout it has left to force a ceasefire on the rebels.
The President of Benin Mr Mathieu Kerckou, was due in Kinshasa yesterday to meet Mr Mobutu but the visit was cancelled at the last minute without explanation.
South Africa last week finally persuaded Mr Mobutu to meet Mr Kabila for the direct negotiations the rebel leader has long demanded as a way of ending the war. But diplomats are sceptical about Mr Kabila's interest in reaching any compromise, given his overwhelming military advantage on the ground.
Western Zaire borders Angola, whose government has been cited in recent Belgian press reports as backing Mr Kabila, apparently in revenge for Mr Mobutu's support of Angolan UNITA rebels during the southern African nation's own civil war.