Rwanda’s New Leaders Accused of Harassing Refugees : Africa: Aid official says actions don’t match words of conciliation. New exodus to Zaire is feared.

A senior international relief agency leader Monday blamed the new Rwandan government for harassing refugees and pushing them toward another mass stampede out of the country.

The official spoke out after weeks of what he described as frustration and double-speak in dealing with the new Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) government. But he insisted that he and his organization not be identified for fear its relief efforts would be compromised.

His blunt assessment comes at a crucial time in the lives of 1.2 million to 2 million Rwandans crowded into the southwest corner of their country, temporarily held by the French as a “safe zone.” More than half are refugees from other parts of their country.

The French, the United Nations and relief workers are struggling to persuade these Rwandans, virtually all of them Hutus, that they will be better off staying put or going home than flooding into Bukavu, Zaire--creating a potential rerun of the humanitarian disaster that is occurring farther north in Goma, Zaire.

In this region, a rising mood of anxiety is apparent among Hutus. Just four days ago, thousands of them could be seen building refugee huts, bartering in markets, gathering firewood and engaging in other everyday pursuits.

But Monday, these same thousands had moved to the edge of the single highway to Zaire, their meager goods packed.

“Most of them, I’m afraid, will leave. It has not happened yet. But people are streaming toward the main road, looking for transport,” said spokesman Fery Aalam of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The daily migration on the road to Zaire has steadily increased in the last few days. From just scattered hundreds counted at one U.N. checkpoint last week, 1,400 passed by Saturday on their way to Zaire. By Sunday, 4,500 were counted and officials said the number appeared to be growing Monday.

Still, these numbers are only a trickle compared with the tens of thousands who could bolt. A healthy refugee can walk from Gikongoro to Zaire in three days.

The RPF has said repeatedly that refugees will be safe, if they stay here or return home--except those guilty of massacres of rival Tutsis. The new government, dominated by Tutsis, dispatched three civilian ministers to the French zone to urge refugees not to flee.

But the veteran relief agency leader said that public posturing by the new government has not been matched by the actions of its military administrators across the border from the French safe zone. “Lots of people are being harassed. . . . The conditions for a return to normalcy are not in place,” the relief leader said.

In just one week, the French are scheduled to pull out. Many of the Hutu refugees believe that replacement U.N. troops will not be able to protect them.

U.N. military leaders have negotiated a vague agreement with the RPF to permit civilian administrators to enter the zone for two months. Armed soldiers are not permitted to enter the area.

Nevertheless, when it comes to the kinds of subtle signals the refugees look for, the relief agency leader said the RPF army “has never shown any interest in keeping this population. Rwanda was overpopulated. Now they have an abundance of fields.”

The fear spreading among the refugees is that when the French leave, they will be attacked to avenge the killing of up to 500,000 Tutsis.

Administering justice may be one of the most difficult cornerstones in rebuilding Rwanda. The RPF has agreed to allow the International Court of Justice to conduct the investigation into genocide. But in government-controlled areas that ring the French zone, military commanders retain control and they appear less conciliatory.