Citation
French troops not to become "buffer force" in Rwanda: Leotard
(UPDATES with Leotard inside Rwanda, ADDS quotes)
afpr000020011028dq6t02x31
Christian Millet
443 Mots
29 Juin 1994
Agence France-Presse
Anglais
(Copyright 1994)
NYARUSHISHI, Rwanda, June 29 (AFP) - French troops in Rwanda will not become a
"buffer force" between the warring Rwandan government and rebel forces, French
Defence Minister Francois Leotard said here Wednesday.
Leotard, who spoke as he visited a refugee camp 15 kilometres (10 miles) inside
western Rwanda, said: "Our aim is to hand over to the humanitarian
organisations, particularly to the Africans."
He had earlier made a tour of inspection of French bases at Goma and Bukavu in
Zaire.
"France must not substitute itself for the Rwandans," Leotard said.
The answer to Rwanda's problems "cannot only be French. The real answer is the
United Nations' mission," he said, adding that Rwanda must remain "a
multi-ethnic country ... and the only solution is political ... despite the
genocide."
Leotard was shown round the camp at Nyarushishi by Colonel Didier Thibaut and
accompanied by the bishop of the nearby diocess of Cyangugu, Tahdee Ntihiyurwa.
France is going to send food and sanitary equipment to the camp very shortly,
Leotard said.
The French minister asked children in the camp if the French troops and
government army soldiers who were running the camp were behaving well. "Oui,"
one said.
The operation has to cover 7,000 kilometres (4,500 miles) on the ground,
Leotard said. Out of the 2,500 men involved in the intervention, 1,000 will
deploy in Rwanda and 1,500 will be in support, he added.
Leotard then went on to visit French troops at Gishyta on the edge of Lake Kivu
four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the forward position of the mainly-Tutsi
Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) troops.
The RPF has previously said it will regard French troops as an enemy force and
threatened to fire on them.
Earlier Wednesday, Leotard arrived in Goma, eastern Zaire, where France has set
up headquarters for its Rwanda operation.
Leotard was accompanied by the junior minister for humanitarian action, Lucette
Michaux-Chevry.
Michaux-Chevry was to meet with the civilian team in charge of the humanitarian
operation.
The two ministers would fly out of Goma late Wednesday and return to France
early Thursday, officials said in Paris.
About 1,400 French crack troops and 300 vehicles were deployed on the
Zairean-Rwandan border early Monday, slightly more than half of the troops that
are to take part in the UN-mandated mission.
Up to 500,000 Rwandans, mostly minority Tutsis, have been killed since April 6,
when president Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, died after his plane was downed in
Kigali.
chm/pcj/bm
AFP
