WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Spotlight : TOO IMPORTANT TO FIGHT

The World Cup has been able to do something the United Nations hasn’t in Rwanda: create a cease fire in the country where some 200,000 have died in a war that began April 6.

Children play soccer in refugee camps amid the thud of mortar fire and delivery of casualties, but when the World Cup is on television--particularly when the game involves Rwandan favorite Nigeria--the guns fall silent.

“I wonder if both sides aren’t doing the same thing,” said U.N. commander Maj. Gen. Romeo Dalliare, “powering up generators and watching football instead of fighting for a while. We could use more of that in Kigali.”