Mobutu fled from what was then called Zaire in May after forces led by rebel leader Laurent Kabila marched from strongholds in the eastern part of the central African nation to the outskirts of the capital, Kinshasa meeting surprisingly little resistance from Mobutus collapsing army.
After seizing control from Mobutu, Kabila discarded the name Zaire, which Mobutu had adopted in 1971 in a drive to Africanize the country and replace names from its Belgian colonial period.
In Congo, there was no immediate mention of Mobutus death on radio or television.
The man who would one day become his young countrys dominant political force was born Joseph Desire Mobutu on October 14, 1930, in what was then known as the Belgian Congo. In later years, he would Africanize his name to Mobutu Sese Seko.
After the vast colony with significant mineral wealth gained independence in 1960, Mobutu, a journalist by training, was named army chief of staff and later commanderinchief.
In 1965, Mobutu seized power with the backing of the military and tacit support of Western countries, who saw him as a bulwark against communist expansion in Africa. He established a oneparty state, banning all other political organizations but his own.
Over the next three decades, Mobutu led one of the most enduring regimes in Africa and, said his critics, one of the most dictatorial and corrupt.
Despite the countrys obvious natural resources, including copper, gold and diamonds, much of Zaires population continued to sink further into poverty. But Mobutu, known for his trademark leopardskin hat, amassed a personal fortune estimated to be as much as 5 billion, with homes in Switzerland and France.
