WORLD IN BRIEF : ZAIRE : Soldiers Surround Leader’s Home

Armed troops loyal to Zaire’s dictator Mobutu Sese Seko backed down from a siege of the legislature but later surrounded the home of the country’s interim leader, Archbishop Monsengwo Pasinya. The soldiers appeared to be trying to intimidate the interim government before a meeting between the strongman and legislative leaders. Troops pulled back from the People’s Palace in Kinshasa, where up to 800 legislators were held captive, after the United States, France and Belgium demanded a halt to the siege. Later, however, 40 to 50 presidential troops surrounded Monsengwo’s house and fired in the air, reports said.