Citation
BRUSSELS, April 12 (Reuter) Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes on
Tuesday defended the presence of Belgian troops in war-torn Rwanda as
part of a United Nations force but said a U.N. mandate for the country
had probably been too limited.
Ten Belgian peacekeepers were murdered in the Rwandan capital, Kigali,
last Thursday as they tried in vain to protect the prime minister who
was killed in the aftermath of the assassination of Rwanda's president.
Claes told Belgian radio that his country had sent troops as part of a
U.N. force on the request of the Rwandan authorities and the Rwandan
Patriotic Front, which groups Rwandan rebels, and the United Nations.
But we refused to lead the operation which is why we sent about half
the troops requested,
he added.
Belgium is the former colonial power in Rwanda.
Claes said that, with hindsight, the U.N. mandate in Rwanda for
peacekeeping after the recent signing of a peace agreement in Arusha,
Tanzania, was too restricted. But he said he doubted whether the
Security Council would expand the mandate.
I hope the Arusha agreement is not dead but I can imagine there are
such wounds that it will take time for meetings and negotiations to
resume. This said I do not see another solution,
he said.
(c) Reuters Limited 1994
