In an apparent turnaround in policy, Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko said in a nationally broadcast speech that Rwandan refugees should not be forced to leave the country.

This summer, Zaire gave the U.N. refugee agency until the end of the year to send home the more than 700,000 refugees camped along Zaire’s eastern border, or Zairian soldiers would force them out of the country.

Mobutu’s reversal, in a speech Friday night that was monitored by the British Broadcasting Corp., was apparently linked to a planned visit by former President Jimmy Carter today to discuss the refugees.