1.   Belgium will send a medical team to Rwanda to help in the French aid operation, said a Belgian defence ministry spokesman Friday.

2.   Defence ministry spokesman Fred Chijuka said Friday they had been sentenced but refused to say which charges were upheld and what the sentences were.

3.   Defence ministry spokesman Alexander Ovchiniko, cited by Moscow Echo radio, did not say where the soldiers were killed or injured.

4.   Former deputy premier and government defence spokesman Yevgeny Marchuk will take over from Masol for an interim period, a presidential aide said, according to the news agency.

5.   US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will visit Afghanistan on Friday to meet senior Afghan leaders and US troops, defence ministry spokesman Mir Jan said.