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KIGALI, April 12 (AFP) - The Rwandan interim government on Tuesday left the Kigali hotel where it had taken up residence for an unknown destination, sparking panic in the city.
Shooting intensified at midday in several areas around the city, raising fears that rebel reinforcements from the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) had entered the capital.
There were no immediate reports about the exact location of the frontline between rebels and the army.
Capitain Eric Millet, commander of a French company of paratroopers, said earlier Tuesday it was possible that fighting elsewhere in the city was due to the arrival of rebel reinforcements, estimated at between 1,000 and 4,000 men, or to 600 RPF rebels already in the city moving to other positions.
The evacuation of foreigners continued Tuesday as Rwandans holed up in buidlings in the capital fled to other places, fearing that government forces or rebels will commit new ethnic massacres.
Belgian paratroopers who replaced the French Tuesday also evacuated Rwandan refugees.
Government forces consider the French their allies whereas the largely Tutsi RPF feels it has the Belgians on its side. The Tutsis were the overlords before Rwanda gained independence from Belgium.
The interim government was sworn in late last week after Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana died in a plane crash Wednesday.
A military spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda said Tuesday the RPF appeared to feel strong and wanted to take the city.
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