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DAR ES SALAAM, Feb 9 (AFP) - Tanzania on Tuesday appealed to the Rwandan government and rebel Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) to halt the fighting which has left some 300 people dead since last month, a statement from the foreign ministry said.
"Tanzania believes that the Arusha peace process offers the best solution for peaceful settlement of the Rwandan conflict," the statement said, referring to stalled Tanzanian-mediated peace talks in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha.
Other reports said France sent more troops to Rwanda on Tuesday after RPF guerrillas battled government troops throughout Monday night around Ruhengeri in the northwest.
Some 150 French troops arrived in Kigali early Tuesday "to ensure the safety of French nationals in Rwanda," a French foreign ministry official said.
In Arusha, Organisation of African Unity (OAU) delegates at the Rwandan peace talks said OAU secretary-general Salim Ahmed Salim was "deeply concerned" about the fresh flare up of fighting and would "personally step in to try and stop the crisis from worsening".
hb/jnm/bb AFP AFP SEQN-0366