THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 27, 1994 TAG: 9407270402
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE VOGEL, THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: ENTEBBE, UGANDA LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
The United States plans to put at least 2,000 U.S. troops in Rwanda to set up a relief network to encourage Rwandan refugees to return home from their horrific camps in Zaire, U.S. officers said Tuesday.
A joint international headquarters for the relief effort is expected to be established soon in Kigali, the Rwandan capital. The U.S. contingent will be commanded by Army Lt. Gen. Daniel Schroeder, said a senior member of the U.S. task force in Uganda. A U.S. advance party could be in Kigali within days.
The dispatch of U.S. troops to Rwanda and establishment of a U.S. relief network within the country would represent a significant extension of the U.S. aid effort launched last week.
Lt. Gen. John Sheehan, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the proposed American presence in Kigali would mean more U.S. military personnel will be required, more than the 4,000 President Clinton committed when he announced the humanitarian operation last week.
Sheehan did not specify how many more troops would be needed but said the troop total ``is going to grow, and it's going to grow to support the requirement'' of the expanded mission. ``We're talking about a continentalwide infrastructure to support'' the relief effort, Sheehan said.
He said the operation will be done ``in concert with the U.N. forces'' in Africa and that several nations would be taking part.
Sheehan said the United States wants an official invitation from the new Rwandan government before going to Kigali. Other U.S. military officials have said a Rwanda-based operation would also have to await U.S. recognition of the government, largely made up of Tutsi rebels of the Rwandan Patriotic Front.
KEYWORDS: RWANDA AFRICA RELIEF by CNB