Citation
PARIS, April 9 (Reuter) - France said 280 of its soldiers landed in the
Rwandan capital Kigali on Saturday and 120 more would be flown there
later in the day to prepare the evacuation of French nationals from the
war-torn country.
The armed forces chief of staff, Admiral Jacques Lanxade, told a news
conference that two French government workers in Kigali and a French
priest in northern Rwanda were believed to have been killed in ethnic
violence since Wednesday.
Lanxade said the operation, code-named Amaryllis
, aimed to take all
necessary precautions to permit the safe departure of our nationals
.
A French businessman in Rwanda said French soldiers had taken up
positions at Kigali airport and the French embassy in the capital.
The French embassy is very calm,
Jean-Pierre Cadran told France-Info
radio by telephone. French soldiers are there and French soldiers are
also holding the airport. They are clearing the main streets in the
city.
Earlier on Saturday the Foreign Ministry said the decision to send
troops to the central African country had been taken in the face of
the spread and the worsening of the violence in Kigali
.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
