RWANDA . . . TIME RUNNING OUT

Zaire, reluctant to shoulder another wave of Rwandan refugees when French troops abandon a protected zone in southwestern Rwanda this weekend, threatened to seal its border to avoid further crowding in its refugee camps. By tonight, U.N. officials estimated, more than 15,000 fleeing Hutu will have crossed into the already-swamped camps in Bukavu, if the rate of about 30 people a minute persists. French President Francois Mitterrand and Prime Minister Edouard Balladur rejected humanitarian officials' pleas to keep French troops in the Rwandan safe zone past Monday so U.N. peacekeepers can replace them. Zaire said it might scrap the ultimatum if Rwanda granted asylum to leaders of Rwanda's ousted Hutu-dominated government, whom the Kinshasa government suspects of plotting a re-invasion of their homeland.