ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 28, 1996 TAG: 9611290111
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The United States put troops on alert Wednesday for participation in a potential airdrop of relief supplies for hundreds of thousands of Rwandan refugees in Zaire.
The airdrop proposal was put forth by Canada as part of a broader Canadian plan that also includes the establishment of a multinational base of operations in central Africa to coordinate relief efforts.
The Clinton administration endorsed the base concept but stopped short of supporting airdrops, saying consultations with Canada are required.
Some U.S. officials have serious reservations about airdrops because the supplies might fall into the hands of disreputable Rwandan Hutu militiamen or inadvertently kill or maim innocent refugees.
About 400 U.S. troops were sent to Kenya and Uganda on a contingency basis last week to provide an ``air bridge,'' if needed, for delivering supplies to the refugees.
``We are prepared to increase that number and increase it rapidly,'' Defense Secretary William Perry said Wednesday at the start of a foreign tour.
A statement by White House press secretary Mike McCurry said, ``The United States welcomes Canada's proposal to establish the multinational headquarters for the planned humanitarian mission in central Africa.''
It said the mission's purpose would be to deliver humanitarian assistance and to facilitate the return of refugees to Rwanda. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the United States is eager for significant African participation in the multinational force.
McCurry's statement said the United States is ``putting personnel on the alert for potential airdrop operations and taking other steps that would enable the U.S. to respond swiftly in the event that airdrops are required.''
Countries willing to donate troops or money to the international effort had debated the issue without decision ever since the crisis took a dramatic turn 12 days ago with the sudden repatriation of 600,000 refugees to Rwanda.
Some governments had counseled that the multinational force approved by the United Nations was no longer necessary because of the mass repatriation. Others disagreed, pointing to the continued presence of hundreds of thousands of additional refugees in Zaire, many in woeful condition.
After agreeing two weeks ago to lead a multinational force of 15,000, Canada was frustrated by the inability of donor countries to reach agreement on how to proceed once the exodus from Zaire took place. Impatient Canadian officials left the impression with American officials that they were ready to proceed alone if consultations failed to produce a consensus.
A major point of disagreement was the number of refugees still stranded in Zaire. Some groups have put the figure as high as 700,000 while the Canadian estimate is 200,000. U.S. officials acknowledge they have no reliable estimates.
Before the exodus of Rwandans into Zaire, the United States was willing to provide about 1,000 ground troops as part of an overall troop commitment of 3,000 to 4,000. After events on the ground reduced the likelihood of hostilities, officials said last week they expected no more than 800 U.S. soldiers to be needed to help deliver supplies.
On Wednesday, tens of thousands of Rwandan refugees, many of them weak and ill, poured out of eastern Zaire forests and into filthy, disease-ridden refugee camps.
Aid workers scrambled to deal with the huge numbers.
More than 15,000 refugees gathered in a dirty camp in Minova, 30 miles south of Goma, a city on the shore of Lake Kivu at the border with Rwanda.
Further inland, thousands more worked their way from the village of Numbi, where as many as 50,000 people were herded by Hutu extremist militias.
``The ones who are still there are very, very sick. Those who can, have walked this far,'' said Ayubu Ndabavunge, a Rwandan refugee on the road near Minova. ``They need help there.''
Some extremists were among the refugees, and one group said they would fight again if they were returned to Rwanda. They said they would try to keep the refugees from returning there.
In Sake, nine miles northwest of Goma, about 10,000 refugees in a column at least six miles long, walked toward the homes they fled in 1994.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 linesby CNB