Zaire Arms Hutus In Refugee Camp

The Zairian government has stepped up a campaign to arm Hutu guerrillas living among the largest population of Rwandan refugees still in Zaire, effectively making human shields of tens of thousands of refugees, according to diplomats and international relief workers.

Diplomats and aid workers say that, in recent days, so many weapons have been flown into the Tingi-Tingi camp that they have interrupted relief shipments.

The arming of Hutu refugees threatens to set off another wave of ethnic killings as Zaire’s embattled government enlists Hutus to fight an advancing rebel army led mostly by Tutsis.

And it poses uncomfortable questions for aid workers who must decide whether they can safely stay in the camp to help refugees.