Abstract
- François Léotard responded to the sharp criticism recently expressed within the majority, particularly from Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who declared that French soldiers had gone too far by mentioning Operation Turquoise. The Minister of Defense replied that everyone's civic duty is to support the actions of the French soldiers.
- After the capture of the capital, Kigali, and Butare in the south, the Rwandan Patriotic Front controls three-quarters of the country. The strongman of the Tutsi rebellion is Paul Kagame, who announced the formation of a broad coalition government between Tutsis and Hutus.
- He is the invisible man of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. We never know where he comes from, where he is, or where his orders come from. He is 37 years old, has a wife and two children. His uniform bears no distinctive insignia, but every RPF soldier knows he is the leader. The warlord, and perhaps even the leader of the movement. Nothing is done without him.
- General Paul Kagame came to tell us that the capture of Kigali was a decisive turning point in the war. And he called on what remains of the former government to surrender "to shorten, he said, the suffering of the Rwandans".
- As for the operations of French troops, Paul Kagame says he doesn't understand why Paris is convinced that it cannot discuss and negotiate with the RPF. General Paul Kagame: "This is always the problem when there is foreign intervention in a country's internal affairs. Sometimes it provides genuine help, in part. It also sometimes creates interference, partisan involvement. In our particular case, France is responsible for having overly supported the government we are fighting and which created the problems we face today. And we have asked them, the French, to stay out of our affairs".
- Paul Kagame calls on Rwandans to reconcile and form a government of national unity within two weeks. This does not include the criminals and those responsible for the genocide, who will be tried. As for those who only did their duty as soldiers but on the wrong side, "we will see, he says, how to rehabilitate them".
- In Rwanda, two French journalists were injured. Our colleague from France 2, Isabelle Staes, who was reporting, was shot. She was operated on by ICRC doctors, and we hope for her repatriation as soon as possible. And tonight, our thoughts are also with José Nicolas, a photographer with the Sipa agency, who was also shot and wounded at the same time as Isabelle Staes.