FT931-12034 _AN-DA4ASACPFT 930130 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