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Article: Mitterrand's muddle: France in Africa.
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- February 27, 1993
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ANOTHER day, another bit of derring-do for Africa's favourite gendarme. On February 20th President Francois Mitterrand sent an extra 240 troops to the tiny forested republic of Rwanda. They were going, as so often, to protect French nationals. The 400 Frenchmen in Rwanda are now being guarded by 600 French soldiers.
Although Rwanda's civil war was supposed to have ended last July, rebels of the Rwandan Patriotic Front were reported on February 19th to be nearing Kigali, the capital city and home to many French expatriates. France says its soldiers' only job is to protect them, but the Patriotic Front--plus a "cease-fire" monitor from the Organisation of African ...