Rebels Allow Evacuation

A Rwandan refugee child is given water Saturday at a United Nations center south of Kisingani. Bowing to international pressure, Zairean rebels agreed Saturday to allow the U.N. to airlift about 80,000 starving Rwandans back to their homeland.

The refugees have been dying at a rate of more than 120 a day from malaria and other diseases, aid workers said.

The decision by the rebel leader, Laurent Kabila, broke an impasse between aid organizations and rebel officials over how to return the Hutu refugees, who had fled almost 300 miles on foot through jungles to escape the advancing rebel army.

The dispute arose because the two major airfields are in Kisangani, which fell to the rebels on March 15.

Rebel officials feared former Zairean soldiers among the refugees would created problems if they were trucked to Kisangani for evacuation.

Instead, rebels wanted the Rwandans to be forced to walk back to Rwanda.

Aid workers argued this would mean death for some refugees.