Citation
BONN, April 7 (Reuter) - Eyewitnesses saw the United Nations
headquarters in the Rwandan capital Kigali come under mortar fire,
Germany's ambassador to Kigali said on Thursday.
Ambassador Dieter Hoelscher told Germany's ARD television that the
houses of two German families living near the U.N. building had been
damaged.
Explosions rocked Kigali on Thursday and heavy fighting broke out
around the presidential palace, hours after the presidents of Rwanda
and Burundi were killed in a rocket attack on their plane, witnesses
said.
The Rwandan government appealed for calm and asked residents to stay in
their homes until further notice. It also ordered security forces to
restore order.
Hoelscher said that in his opinion, the situation indicates a dispute
within the armed forces.
He said the atmosphere in Kigali was tense.
The city is deathly quiet,
he said.
The Rwandan government said its president Juvenal Habyarimana, 57, and
Burundi President Cyprien Ntaryamira, 38, died along with two Burundi
ministers and five senior Rwandan officials.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
