Citation
BONN, April 7 (Reuter) - German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel expressed
dismay and deep concern on Thursday at the deaths of the presidents of
Rwanda and Burundi, killed in a rocket attack on their plane.
I learned with great dismay that the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi
had been killed when their aircraft crashed in the Rwandan capital
Kigali,
Kinkel said in a statement.
This tragedy must not plunge the process of political reconciliation,
set into motion with such great effort, back into violent
confrontations.
Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, 57, and Burundi President
Cyprien Ntaryamira, 38, were travelling together from Tanzania where
they had attended a peace summit.
Kinkel reported that Rwandan army units seemed to have skirmished and
were still fighting in Kigali.
Germany's ambassador to Rwanda, Dieter Hoelscher, told German
television that the events in the African country seemed to have been
sparked by a dispute in the armed forces
.
Kinkel said Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, appeared to be calm but
advised all German nationals living in the country, part of which
belonged to Germany's East Africa colony before World War One, to
remain indoors.
I am deeply concerned about developments in the region,
Kinkel said,
particularly as the situation in Burundi had seemed to be stabilising
after the tragic events of last year.
Eyewitnesses saw the United Nations headquarters in Kigali come under
mortar fire in shooting and shelling that erupted after the two
presidents were killed, envoy Hoelscher told ARD television.
Hoelscher said that the houses of two German families living near the
U.N. building had been damaged.
The Rwandan government appealed for calm and asked residents to stay in
their homes until further notice. It also ordered security forces to
restore order.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
