RWANDA . . . ZAIRE-REFUGEE TENSIONS BOILING

Rwandan refugees who have overrun Zairian border towns are now clashing with Zairian troops, leaving the Rwandans trapped between the sickness and starvation of refugee camps and a neighboring homeland where they fear execution. This morning a gang of Zairian soldiers opened fire on a crowd, killing an elderly Rwandan man and injuring a six-year-old boy and two others -- retaliation for refugee killings of two soldiers this week for ransacking the camps. U.N. officials, fearing more violence, suspended food convoys to 150,000 people and called an emergency meeting with Zairian military authorities. TIME correspondent Lara Marlowe, close by in Goma, says long-unpaid Zairian troops have raced to the camps without orders, intent on stealing from refugees. Other Zairians with ethnic ties to the Rwandans are losing patience: "If you live in a little town and suddenly you have 1 million people come swooping in, cutting down trees and stealing your livestock, there's bound to be a lot of res