News Briefs - August 22, 1995

Rwandan refugees another disaster waiting to happen

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) - The refugee situation at the Zaire/Rwanda border is deteriorating as the Zairian government continues it's effort to forcibly expel refugees from camps. Near the town of Uvira, Zaire up to 60,000 refugees have fled into the mountains trying to escape the Zairian troops who are rounding them up.

[Camp] Their flight is creating a potential humanitarian disaster. There is little shelter, running water in the mountainous area surrounding the town.

Meanwhile in the town of Bukavu, Zaire some 11,000 refugees have been forcibly removed with the effort by the Zairian troops continuing. In the Mugunga camp near the town of Goma, Zaire some 4,000 refugees have been rounded up by Zairian troops with trucks and troops still arriving to move refugees to the border. Once the refugees are dumped at the border, they are forced to cross over into Rwanda.

At this point the UN has one transit center set up in Western Rwanda and is working to create other transit points for the refugees but will soon be overwhelmed if Zaire continues its policy and attempts to remove all Rwanda refugees from Zaire.

Sarajevo shelling claims more victims

[Building] SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNN) -- One woman had a lucky escape during a day of shelling in Sarajevo- the heaviest to hit the Bosnian capital for weeks. A maid who was working in a building hit by Bosnian Serb shellfire was trapped under rubble. She was taken to hospital after being freed and found to have only minor injuries.

Other residents however, were not so lucky. At least six people died and another 29 people were injured, including children, when Bosnian Serb gunners fired a shell into the city. It landed close to a bridge on the Miljacka river that runs right through the center of town. It was the second serious attack of the day.

Earlier six UN peacekeepers from Egypt were wounded, two seriously, when mortars rained down on their position in the northwestern sector of the town. The U.N.'s Rapid Deployment Force responded by lobbing a half-dozen shells at a suspected Serb gun emplacement. It was not known if the target was successfully hit.

Israeli-PLO talks resume, Iran denies supporting Hamas

[Bus wreckage] JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Quoting Israeli sources, CNN says talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed in the Israeli resort of Eilat, one day after five people were killed and more than 70 were wounded in a bus bombing. The militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that took place early Monday morning during Jerusalem's rush-hour.

The meeting has attracted the largest delegations to date with about a hundred people on each side. Sources expect the meeting will go until the end of the week when delegations will break up into smaller teams.

Meanwhile, PLO leader Yasser Arafat accused Iran on Tuesday of supporting Islamic fundamentalist attacks on the Middle East peace process, but vowed not to be sidetracked by suicide bombers. Arafat spoke during a meeting with the German minister of economics Carl Sprenger in Gaza.

"We are trying to prevent these operations of Hamas," Arafat said. "These explosions will not stop the peace process. Iran helps Islamic terror to attack the peace process." The Iranian government denied Tuesday that it has any involvement with Hamas.

Caribbean island residents fear volcanic eruption

[Volcano] PLYMOUTH, Montserrat (CNN) -- The Chances Peak volcano, dormant on this tiny Caribbean island for more than 100 years, is making noises again and that is sending shockwaves of fear through the island's population.

According to Reuters, nearly half of the island's 10,000 citizens were forced from their homes because the volcano may soon erupt. The volcano had been spewing gases and ash, but no activity was reported Tuesday.

Claude Hogan, a spokesman for Montserrat, told Reuters that scientists reported a particularly intense eruption of ash and steam from a vent on the island's east-southeast coast. The activity covered the island's capital in ashen dust panicking residents and bringing much of the activity on the island to a standstill.

There was no indication of when the volcano might erupt.

Soldiers head to Gulf; U.N. eyes Iraq's germ warfare

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- About 1,300 U.S. soldiers will head to the Persian Gulf on Tuesday in a warning to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile, in Baghdad, United Nations experts set out to examine new information on Iraq's germ warfare plans.

The U.S. troops, deployed from Fort Hood, Texas, were scheduled to leave Monday, but an unspecified nation reportedly refused to allow U.S. military planes in its airspace. They'll be flying on commercial aircraft instead. The Gulf exercises, originally planned for October, were moved up amid recent instability in Iraq.

The Iraqi arms examination follows a four-day investigative mission by U.N. disarmament chief Rolf Ekeus. On Sunday Ekeus reported a break in Iraqi relations, saying the government had provided valuable new information on its biological and nuclear weaponry and its missile programs. Now Ekeus is meeting in Amman with Gen. Hussein Kamel Hassan, son-in-law of President Saddam Hussein who recently defected to Jordan. Hassan formerly headed Iraq's weapons program, and Ekeus wants to "compare notes" with him.

After bloody clash, Russia promises peace in Chechnya

tanks in the streets

MOSCOW (CNN) -- Russia has promised to continue the peace process in Chechnya, after a bloody clash that left 80 Chechen fighters and one Russian serviceman dead.

Fighting broke out on Monday when Russian troops recaptured a police station held by Chechen rebels in the town of Argun. The flareup threatened to stall peace efforts. While Moscow reaffirmed its commitment to peace, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin reportedly threatened to punish those who conducted "provocations" in Chechnya.

Sergei Medvedev, President Yeltsin's press secretary, was optimistic the peace process would continue. "I think it complicates the negotiations, but I do not think it means the start of a major war again," he said. He said the government will continue to disarm Chechen rebels and emphasized the importance of reopening political talks.

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