Citation
UNITED NATIONS, April 8 (Reuter) - The president of the Security
Council reported a marked improvement in the situation in civil-war
torn Rwanda late Friday, with agreement among various factions on a
ceasefire and the appointment of an interim government.
Agreement has been reached on a ceasefire and as of half-an-hour ago I
was informed that there was significant improvement in the security
situation by comparison with 24 hours ago,
ambassador Colin Keating of
New Zealand said.
Speaking to reporters after closed-door council consulations, he said:
On the political front, there has been agreement on, and promulgation
of, a decision ... of the appointment of an interim government and an
acting or interim president and prime minister, and five ministers have
been named.
He said the 2,500-member U.N. Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR)
and other U.N. personnel had played a role in efforts to halt the
fighting and stabilise the situation.
The U.N. force was sent to Rwanda last year to help implement an accord
signed in August between the government and rebels of the Rwanda
Patriotic Front (RPF), ending a three-year civil war.
The latest violence erupted after Rwanda's President Juvenal
Habyarimana and President Cyprien Ntaryamira of neighbouring Burundi
were killed Wednesday night when a rocket destroyed their plane as they
were landing in Kigali after attending a meeting in Tanzania.
Hundreds of people have been reported killed since then, including
political leaders, aid workers, nuns, priests, ordinary Rwandans and 10
Belgian U.N. peacekeepers.
Keating said consultations leading up to the announcement of a
ceasefire and interim government involved the Rwandan gendarmerie and
army, and the RPF, composed mainly of Tutsis who fought the country's
Hutu government during the civil war.
He was unable immediately to give the names of the newly- -appointed
ministers but described them as political leaders from essentially
opposition parties.
The security situation generally in the country outside Kigali, we are
advised, is relatively calm and has been throughout the day,
he said.
In the capital itself, the security situation has continued to
improve.
Although probably still far from good, this had to be
measured against the disastrous
situation Thursday.
Keating also the Red Cross had told him its personnel had access to
many parts of Kigali, enabling them to evacuate wounded people to
hospital.
The Security Council, which remained greatly concerned, would continue
to monitor the situation closely over the weekend and would meet if
necessary to deal with whatever reports were received.
Keating said he had an assurance from the RPF that its troops near the
Ugandan border would not advance on the capital.
The RPF also controls approaches to the Kigali airport, which is still
held by the hardline Hutu presidential guard, blamed for much of the
violence.
Although there was no immediate move to augment the U.N. force in
Rwanda, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali sent a letter to the
Security Council saying UNAMIR would require another two to three
battalions -- between 1,500 and 2,000 additional troops -- if it became
necessary to use it to evacuate U.N. civilian staff and other
foreigners.
Boutros-Ghali, now in Geneva, also noted UNAMIR's mandate might have to
be changed, since at present it may use force only in self-defence.
Diplomats said Belgium, which has more than 400 soldiers already
serving with the U.N. contingent in Rwanda, wanted to send in
additional troops under a U.N. flag to rescue its 1,500 nationals
there.
France and the United States, which has some 255 citizens in Rwanda,
were also reported to be making evacuation plans.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
