La France lance l'opération Amaryllis au Rwanda. Il s'agit d'évacuer les étrangers, parmi lesquels 600 Français et 1 500 Belges

Coudenhove, Anne (de)

Babey, Pierre

9 avril 1994

19940409

19:30:00

CEST

Journal de 19 heures 30 [2:25]

La France lance l'opération Amaryllis au Rwanda. Il s'agit d'évacuer les étrangers, parmi lesquels 600 Français et 1 500 Belges

Le représentant français au Conseil de sécurité espère que le nouveau gouvernement tienne la situation en main.

1994-04-09-19-30fr3.mp4

8254991 bytes

France 3

INA

Journal télévisé

FR

- France launches Operation Amaryllis in Rwanda. It is a question of evacuating foreigners, including 600 French and 1,500 Belgians. Several hundred French paratroopers from the Central African Republic deployed around Kigali airport. The rebels reject the interim government. After three days of chaos, the capital was calmer today.
- The round of Transall continued this afternoon in Kigali. 200 additional men came to support those landed this morning. Objective: to hold this airport in order to allow the possible evacuation of French and European nationals.
- For their part, Belgians and Americans have also prepositioned forces in Burundi, which is very close.
In Paris this evening, the Rwandan Patriotic Front issues a warning: French troops must only deal with their nationals, without in any way intervening against the RPF. François Rutayisire, "F.P.R. representative in France": "Anyone who gets in the way of the RPF forces who want to eliminate the presidential guard, the RPF will not hesitate to fight".
- The situation remains uncertain this evening in Kigali: the Rwandan Armed Forces are again blocking the airport. They want to oppose the landing of Belgian planes.
- Admiral Lanxade: "We need additional means which we are in the process of delivering to ensure this safe transfer. The situation is worrying but we now have the means on site to deal with the emergency".
- This evening, the UN, which has blue helmets in Rwanda, is monitoring the situation hour by hour. The French representative on the Security Council hopes, at the moment in New York, that the situation has stabilized, that the new government holds the situation in hand without however being completely sure.
- The Quai d'Orsay has made two telephone numbers available to those who have family or relatives in Rwanda.