Detained Opposition Leader Is Released

Leading opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi was released after hours of detention and interrogation that touched off sporadic violence by his supporters. Mobs burned cars and trucks, rampaged through gas stations and torched tires to protest his incarceration by the government of President Laurent Kabila, whose troops fired warning shots in the air to disperse rock-throwing crowds. Tshisekedi was detained after he apparently refused to attend a meeting with the president. Tshisekedi headed the political opposition to oust President Mobutu Sese Seko, but it was an armed rebellion by Kabila that toppled the dictator.