Citation
THE shots were clearly aimed at us, and exploded in the dirt within
feet of where we cowered.
Gunfire from 50-calibre machine-guns and anti-aircraft batteries on
the hillside had broken up the six-vehicle United Nations convoy and
suddenly I was sheltering in a ditch by the roadside with Bernard
Kouchner, the former French humanitarian affairs minister, the UN
press liaison officer, Mokhtar Gueye, four UN soldiers and two
journalists.
The rebels clearly believed the UN was protecting government elements
in the convoy which was returning to the capital after a meeting with
leaders of Rwanda's self-appointed interim government in the town of
Gitarama.
Calm but firm appeals by the convoy commander, Colonel Isoa Tikoca,
for the UN headquarters to radio the rebel Rwanda Patriotic Front base
in Kigali to request a ceasefire were ignored for nearly an hour. Mr
Gueye was almost hit as he crossed a small gap in the roadside wall to
reach the Tunisian UN soldiers who had returned under heavy fire in
one of two armoured personnel carriers to retrieve our group which had
been stranded by the shooting.
The Tunisian commander, Major Belgacem M'farrej, ran out on to the
road to open the door of the APC for Mr Kouchner and the others, none
of whom had been injured, to get inside. As he did so a burst of
gunfire echoed along the length of the steep-sided valley.
Women in mud houses nearby fled along the road with loads on their
heads, and were not fired on. A minibus carrying civilians sped past
and machine-gun fire followed the vehicle along the road.
After a few minutes' silence, two government army vehicles drove fast
around the corner and a barrage of gunfire hit the road, the wall
behind those trapped and the valley side.
Without a final confirmation over the UN radio that the RPF command
had ordered a ceasefire, the APC was able to edge close enough to the
roadside to allow us to run to its far side and get in.
The UN cars drove alongside the APC, which was then joined by another
Tunisian APC drawing another hail of gunfire.
The convoy slowly edged away from the scene of what is the first
deliberate rebel attack on UN forces since the current explosion of
violence.
No explanation has yet been received from the RPF, though it seems
clear that the rebels realised that government troops were using the
convoy as a cover to allow them to travel from the seat of government
to the parts of Kigali under their control.
The RPF capture of the road to Gitarama would cut the capital off from
the rest of the country. Up to 4,000 government troops are now in
Kigali, and are reliant on the road to Gitarama remaining open if the
city falls to the RPF.
RPF rebels had attacked the convoy at the same place, as it was going
south to Gitarama for the meeting, and the government troops returned
fire.
As the returning convoy approached the outskirts of the capital,
several government army cars pushed their way in, just before a steep
pass.
On that occasion a government army pickup with a mounted gun and five
soldiers, which was to escort the convoy through roadblocks manned by
the youth militias responsible for much of the violence, had returned
fire.
Col Tikoca angrily criticised the breaking up of the convoy by the
government troops, which included the man now seen by the UN as the
most powerful within the military-controlled government, Colonel
Theones Bagasora. Col Bagasora is alleged to be the mastermind of the
violence which has left over 200,000 dead.
But Col Tikoca did not prevent the government troops from using the UN
convoy as a cover to allow them to pass beneath the rebel guns.
An hour after the attack rebel forces opened fire on the same UN and
press personnel as they were driving from the UN headquarters to the
UN-occupied Meridien hotel, which has marked the front line for
several weeks.
