Citation
BRUSSELS, April 8 (Reuter) - Belgium put paratroops on alert to
evacuate foreigners from its former African colony of Rwanda on Friday,
after 10 Belgian soldiers were killed trying in vain to protect the
country's prime minister.
France was considering using troops stationed in the Central African
Republic to evacuate its 600 nationals from Rwanda, where violence has
flared again following the assassination of the president earlier this
week, military sources in Paris said.
The Belgian government scheduled an emergency cabinet meeting for later
on Friday to decide whether to evacuate some 1,500 Belgians and perhaps
other foreigners.
The Rwandan capital, Kigali, has been plunged into an orgy of violence
and looting following the deaths of the presidents of Burundi and
Rwanda on Wednesday.
Rwanda, one of the smallest and poorest African states, has suffered
from a civil war along tribal lines for four years.
We lost some 10 peacekeepers in Kigali on Thursday, which was a tragic
night for us,
Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes told reporters
before he cut short a visit to Romania.
Government sources said two battalions of paratroops -- some 800 men --
had been put on alert for a possible evacuation, which could be carried
out in cooperation with French forces.
They are ready to go when and if we decide they should,
said one
source who asked not to be identified.
France has already put its 8,600 soldiers at bases spread throughout
central and western Africa on alert.
Belgium, which built up a huge empire in central Africa in the 19th
century, has often sent paratroops to restore order or rescue its
nationals since it gave up colonies such as Zaire and Rwanda. Rwanda
became independent in 1962.
A government statement issued after a late night cabinet meeting on
Thursday said ministers had analysed the present dramatic situation in
Rwanda, particularly with a view to taking appropriate measures for the
protection of our compatriots
.
Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene cut short a holiday in Malta to
return to Brussels on Friday.
Extra troops would have to be sent for any rescue mission because a
2,500-strong U.N. force in Rwanda has no mandate to protect or evacuate
foreign nationals.
The Belgian armed forces said in a statement that the 10 dead soldiers,
part of the U.N. force, were disarmed and executed by Rwandan troops at
a military camp in Kigali on Thursday.
These Belgian soldiers were in charge of the security of Prime
Minister Agathe Unilingyimana, whose residence was surrounded by
Rwandan soldiers. She tried to flee. Our soldiers were apprehended
while they were covering her flight,
it said.
The prime minister was also killed by soldiers.
The commander of the Belgian peacekeepers in Rwanda, Colonel Luc
Marchal, told Belgian radio the bodies of the dead soldiers were in a
Kigali hospital and that they would be flown home.
Violence swept Kigali following the deaths of presidents Juvenal
Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi in a rocket
attack on their plane as it flew into the city on Wednesday night. It
is not clear who was responsible.
Belgium expressed outrage at the deaths of the two presidents and
warned that the killings could destabilise both countries, bedevilled
by violent tribal rivalries for decades.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
