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FT 30 JAN 93 / France sends troops after Zaire army mutiny
By JULIAN OZANNE
NAIROBI
MUTINOUS TROOPS rampaged through Kinshasa for the second day running
yesterday as French paratroops entered the Zairean capital from neighbouring
Congo to help evacuate up to 1,000 French nationals.
The streets of Kinshasa were strewn with corpses, with at least 45 reported
dead, after elite troops loyal to President Mobutu Sese Seko, using heavy
weapons and grenades, continued to hunt mutineers and civilian looters.
Mr Willy Claes, Belgian foreign minister, said the situation was
deteriorating and there appeared to be a 'confrontation in the heart of the
army' and growing signs of tribal warfare among civilians which had caused
widespread public panic.
The explosion of violence for a third time in 17 months in Zaire's capital
brought black Africa's second largest country closer to economic collapse
and a civil war.
Earlier yesterday Mr Pierre Joxe, the French foreign minister, accused
Zairean troops of deliberately killing the French ambassador, Mr Philippe
Barnard, 61, on Thursday evening. 'It was not a stray bullet as the first
agency reports said,' he added.
Diplomats said as many as 400 French civilians may have taken refuge in the
French Embassy residence, near the Congo River, which divides Zaire from
Congo. France said it had dispatched 150 marines to Brazzaville, the
Congolese capital, to help rescue an estimated 1,000 nationals, while
Belgium said it was sending 520 troops to evacuate its 3,000 nationals.
The Brussels office of the international medical charity Medecins sans
Frontieres said its workers in Kinshasa reported 'many deaths' and saw
streets in some areas 'scattered with bodies', most of them in uniform.
There was no official death toll from the worst rioting in Zaire since
September 1991 when at least 250 people were killed in an army mutiny.
However, MSF said it knew of 45 dead and 131 wounded in Kinshasa. Soldiers
firing automatic weapons randomly gutted shops and homes, plundered
supermarkets, hijacked cars and stole money from civilians at gunpoint. Some
civilians stayed at home while some wealthy Zaireans tried to flee the
country in private aircraft and across the Zaire River.
Troops loyal to President Mobutu, who has ruled Zaire since he seized power
in a CIA-backed military coup in 1965, fought fierce street battles with
grenades and armoured vehicles to put down the mutiny. The army's Kokolo
camp in Kinshasa, where the infantry-led mutiny began, was encircled by
loyal troops yesterday, as was the office of reformist prime minister
Etienne Tshisekedi. No word has been heard from Mr Tshisekedi since
Thursday.
Violence erupted among soldiers after 5m-zaire banknotes, which are almost
worthless, were issued to settle a two-month payroll for the military.
Anarchy threatens region, Page 3
Countries:-
ZRZ Zaire, Africa.
FRZ France, EC.
Industries:-
P9229 Public Order and Safety, NEC.
Types:-
GOVT Government News.
The Financial Times
London Page 1