Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020073
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: KIGALI, RWANDA LENGTH: Medium
The agreement to send the vehicles came in response to an appeal by Brig. Gen. Romeo Dallaire of Canada, commander of U.N. troops in Rwanda. Details were still being worked out Wednesday evening, according to the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Dallaire also said a U.N. team had uncovered evidence of killings at a refugee camp on the eve of new cease-fire talks between rebels and the government.
U.N. workers resumed delivery of food to thousands of stranded civilians in Kigali, the capital, only to cut it off again as mortar and artillery rounds slammed into much of the city.
Dallaire stressed the United Nations' lack of manpower and equipment to rescue refugees during talks with senior U.S. officials in Nairobi, Kenya.
``Who else can do it?'' Dallaire said. ``I don't know if the Russians have that capability available. The only other ones who have the size and volume to handle this type of problem are the Americans. We turned to them for that help.''
Thousands of Rwandans remain trapped in hotels, stadiums and churches throughout Kigali. The city has become a crumbled, glass-strewn ghost town since fighting flared after Rwanda's president died in a suspicious plane crash April 6.
Most refugees are living without food or water, except for occasional foreign relief aid. The United Nations has one plane for the relief mission, and fighting frequently closes Kigali's badly shelled airport, halting deliveries.
The United Nations reduced its contingent in Rwanda last month from 2,500 to about 450. It has authorized sending 5,500 peacekeepers into Rwanda, but it is not clear when they might arrive.
U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has called the lack of world response to the mission a ``scandal,'' and Dallaire echoed that frustration.
``I need tents, I need kitchens, I need digging utensils, I need APCs [armored personnel carriers], I need helicopters, I need communications equipment. I need the equivalent of a brigade here,'' he said.
Dallaire said U.N. investigators who inspected the Kabgayi religious compound, 22 miles southwest of Kigali, reported ``a few'' people had been killed and many injured.
They could not confirm local reports that 500 civilians were massacred at the camp, or Vatican reports that up to 30,000 have been threatened with death, but it was unclear how much freedom they had to investigate. Pope John Paul II has asked the United Nations to declare the site a safe area.
Dallaire met Wednesday with the commander of the rebel Rwanda Patriotic Front to discuss the safety of U.N. peacekeepers and Tuesday's killing of a Senagalese captain.
Dallaire said a preliminary investigation showed the peacekeeper was killed by a shell fired from rebel positions, but that it likely was an accident.
Because of the killing, the United Nations halted its operations in Kigali. It briefly resumed food delivery Wednesday and hoped to resume evacuations today.
An estimated 200,000 people have died in two months of fighting.
Peace talks were due to resume today in Kigali. A first meeting Monday produced no tangible result, and fighting has continued unabated.
Brig. Gen. Henry Adyidoho, deputy commander of the U.N. forces, said the peacekeepers are trying to negotiate a cease-fire, but neither side seems to be interested.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.