Citation
UNITED NATIONS, April 21 (Reuter) - Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali recommended Thursday that the Security Council either
increase U.N. forces in Rwanda by several thousand or reduce them to
about 270.
Security Council members said privately that the force, originally
2,500, would probably be cut to 274 with a provision for an early
review in case a ceasefire is established in the country's civil war.
In a report to the council, Boutros-Ghali also gave a third option of
completing withdrawing the U.N. Assistance Mission For Rwanda, known as
UNAMIR, but rejected it outright.
The council is expected to work on a resolution late Thursday with a
view to adopting it Friday, diplomats said.
Boutros-Ghali said the council had the option of a massive
reinforcement of UNAMIR
and a change in its mandate so it would be
equipped to coerce combatants into a ceasefire.
UNAMIR had been established last October as a traditional peacekeeping
force to help implement a new peace agreement. But the U.N. troops were
caught in tribal violence set off by the assassination of President
Juvenal Habyarimana on April 6.
Boutros-Ghali said Ugandan President Yoweri Museweni urged him to
maintain a large operation and that he would attempt to recruit troops
from the region.
Rwanda's U.N. representatives had also pleaded for a strong U.N.
presence. U.N. forces are currently protecting and rescuing some
displaced people.
Several African countries have also privately complained that the
Security Council beefed up the U.N. operation in the former Yugoslavia,
now numbering about 30,000, in times of trouble but was reluctant to do
so in Africa.
African members on the 15-member council include Rwanda, Djibouti and
Nigeria.
Western diplomats said the proposed resolution would probably give
strong assurance of a U.N. return to Rwanda when the situation was
calmer.
The alternative the council is considering would leave the force
commander and staff in Kigali to act as an intermediatory between the
warring Hutu and Tutsi groups and help resume relief operations.
This would involve an infantry company to provide security as well as
some military observers and civilian staff for a total of about 270,
Boutros-Ghali said.
UNAMIR has already been reduced from its original 2,500 troops and
support personnel so that only 1,570 military personnel still remain,
including 180 unarmed military observers, U.N. officials said Thursday.
Belgium had unilaterally withdrawn its 430 peacekeepers after 10 were
killed, presumably by the late president's personal guard.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
