Citation
PARIS, April 7 (Reuter) - France has put soldiers in former African
colonies on alert following the killing of the leaders of Rwanda and
Burundi, but has no plans to send troops to the two countries, military
sources said on Thursday.
Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundi President Cyprien
Ntaryamira died in a rocket attack that destroyed their plane on
Wednesday as they flew back to the Rwandan capital of Kigali from
regional peace talks.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Richard Duque said France deplored their
deaths.
If it were confirmed that the plane was shot down, France could only
condemn such an act,
he said, adding that Paris had asked for an
international investigation into the explosion, which also killed the
crew of three French nationals.
Government authorities said the decision to put the 8,600 French
soldiers spread throughout central and western Africa on alert was a
routine move.
In circumstances like this it is usual for precautionary measures to
be taken,
Duque told reporters at a daily briefing.
France has some 4,600 soldiers in the Central African Republic, Chad,
Gabon, Ivory Coast and Senegal, the sources said. Another 4,000 are
stationed in the Red Sea port of Djibouti.
Paris, which for several years had about 300 soldiers in Rwanda,
withdrew its remaining contingents from the tiny central African
country last December. They were replaced by a United Nations
peacekeeping force.
France has a small number of military technical advisers in both Rwanda
and Burundi, Duque said.
There is no movement of French troops planned into Rwanda or Burundi
at the present time,
the military official said.
U.N. officials said on Thursday that presidential guards abducted three
Rwandan government ministers and three U.N. military observers in
Kigali.
United Nations forces must be able to continue their mission,
Duque
said.
France appeals to all leaders for calm to be maintained in both
countries so that this tragic event will not lead to violence,
he
said.
There are some 600 French nationals in Rwanda, most in Kigali, and
about 700 in Burundi, mostly in Bujumbura, Duque said, adding that the
situation in the two countries did not prompt any particular anxiety
.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
