Citation
UNITED NATIONS, April 9 (Reuter) - Security Council members were
briefed Saturday by senior U.N. secretariat officials and the French
ambassador on developments in Rwanda, where French troops have arrived
to evacuate foreign nationals from the strife-torn African nation.
Council President Colin Keating of New Zealand said later no decision
was taken on the future of the 2,500-man U.N. force -- the U.N.
Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) -- sent in last year to help
implement an accord ending a three-year civil war between the
government and rebel Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF).
Keating said UNAMIR's capacity for fulfilling its mandate in the
current circumstances were at best slim
and the council would confer
again Monday.
He said Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali meanwhile had the
discretion to take whatever actions are necessary
to ensure the
protection of U.N. personnel.
In addition to the members of the U.N. force, they include some 200 to
250 civilian staff and dependents connected with various U.N. agencies.
Keating, who only Friday night announced various Rwandan factions had
agreed on a ceasefire and the appointment of an interim government,
said: The security situation has deteriorated significantly.
The council, which was briefed by French Ambassador Jean-Bernard
Merimee, made no comment on the arrival of French troops, expected to
be joined shortly by soldiers flown in from Belgium, Rwanda's former
colonial ruler.
Keating said a representative of the RPF had informed him the Patriotic
Front, whose troops were reported marching on Kigali, the capital, had
no objections to the evacuation of foreign nationals.
The RPF representative, Claude Dusaidi, later confirmed this, but said
if outside forces remained beyond what the humanitarian mission
requires, it will be taken as a hostile act.
He said no time limit had been set for the evacuation, although earlier
he had spoken to some reporters about a 10-12 hour deadline.
Nigerian envoy Ibrahim Gambari, speaking as coordinator of the
council's non-aligned members, usually most sensitive to outside
involvement in a country's domestic affairs, said the evacuation
operation was a special circumstance, an extraordinary one.
And therefore one can understand the nature of the French and Belgian
intervention, which is purely humanitarian and we hope will be limited
in time frame.
Gambari also said the United Nations should not be seen as being
concerned only with the welfare of foreign nationals but of innocent
civilians who are getting killed in Rwanda.
Merimee told reporters French troops arrived in Kigali without
fighting
and Rwandan forces removed obstacles they had placed on the
runway. It was a smooth operation.
He said additional French troops were arriving but the total number
would not exceed 400.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
