
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 13, 1994                   TAG: 9404130120
SECTION: NATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: KIGALI, RWANDA                                LENGTH: Short

REFUGEES FLEE RWANDA/ MAJOR REBEL FORCE ADVANCES INTO CAPITAL CITY

Amid the crash of mortar fire, French and Belgian paratroopers evacuated the last large group of foreign refugees Tuesday as a major rebel force began pushing into Kigali from the north.

With the advance of the rebels, mostly members of the minority Tutsi tribe, the capital was extremely tense. A trip through the outskirts gave the impression of an entire city at arms.

The roads were lined with Hutu men, some dressed in new winter coats apparently looted from stores, others barefoot and armed with clubs, machetes, axes and makeshift spears and bows and arrows.

One officer said as few as 1,000 organized defenders remained in the capital. ``They are afraid of the rebels and I don't blame them,'' said Guy Steimes, a Belgian businessman.

``The rebels call themselves the Rwandan Patriotic Front, but they'll probably start killing Hutus, just like the presidential guard killed Tutsis.''

The rebel-controlled Radio Muhabura, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corp., said rebel forces had taken control of two towns in northern Rwanda after inflicting heavy casualties on government troops. The report could not be immediately confirmed.

More than 100,000 refugees streamed out of Kigali toward neighboring Burundi on Tuesday to escape the advancing rebel forces, and more than 1,000 foreigners were evacuated from the capital.

An estimated 20,000 people have been slain in a week of violence, almost all of them Rwandans.

Memo: A different version ran in Metro edition.

by CNB