Citation
BRUSSELS, April 8 (Reuter) - Belgium has put a unit of crack paratroops
on alert for a possible evacuation of foreigners from its former
African colony of Rwanda, government sources told Reuters on Friday.
The sources said a unit of several hundred men had been put on alert
late on Thursday and would be ready to leave at short notice if the
government decided to evacuate some 1,500 Belgians and possibly other
foreigners living in Rwanda.
They are ready to go when and if we decide they should,
said one
source, who asked not to be identified. The sources declined to say how
many paratroops were on alert.
With the Rwandan capital Kigali plunged into anarchy, the Belgian
government was scheduled to hold an emergency cabinet meeting later on
Friday to decide on possible action.
Ten Belgian soldiers serving with U.N. forces in Rwanda were killed on
Thursday as they tried in vain to protect the country's prime minister.
Fighting and looting have swept Kigali since the president was
assassinated on Wednesday.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
