Germany: Rwanda Chief of Protocol arrested for death of Habyarimana (UPDATED)

by rahul | November 9, 2008 at 07:11 pm
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  Updates: Rwanda has protested to Germany over the arrest of a high level official in connection with the death of a former president that triggered genocide in the central African nation. Kigali said Rose Kabuye, the director general of state protocol, was travelling on official government business when German police arrested her at Frankfurt airport on Sunday.... "We immediately sent a protest note [to the German embassy in Kigali] ... we emphasised that Rose Kabuye holds a diplomatic passport ... therefore the German government shouldn't have arrested her," Rosemary Museminali, the Rwandan foreign minister, told reporters late on Sunday. The German ambassador was also summoned. In a statement, Rwanda's information ministry said the arrests were a "political game designed to blur the truth and weaken the government". ...Lef Forster, Kabuye's lawyer, said she had agreed to be transferred to France for questioning over her alleged role in the downing of the plane.  Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda's information minister, told Al Jazeera:

The Rwanda´s Chief of Protocol, Rose Kabuye, was arrested today at Frankfurt. Kabuye -an aide to Rwanda's president Paul Kagame -  was detained under a French warrant. She has been accused of  participating in the killing of former President Juvenal Habyarimana in 1994. "In the wake of the killing of Habyarimana, an ethnic Hutu, Hutu extremists slaughtered about 800,000 people, most of them minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus." Kabuye has denied such involvement in the past and was willing to confront the French Warrant. This detention takes place amid the deterioration of the situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. On Saturday,  the UN mission in Rwanda(MONUC) accused Gen Laurent Nikunda of war crimes that took place in Kiwanja this week. Nikunda is believed to be backed by Rwanda.

Rwanda presidential aide arrested  An aide to Rwanda's president has been arrested in Germany under a warrant issued by France, Germany's foreign ministry has said.  Rose Kabuye, chief of protocol to Paul Kagame, was detained on Sunday on arriving in Frankfurt. "[Kabuye] was arrested on her arrival at the Frankfurt airport. Germany was bound to arrest her by a European arrest warrant issued by France," a German foreign ministry spokesman said. Lef Forster, Kabuye's lawyer, said that she has now agreed to be transferred to France for questioning over her alleged role in the 1994 downing of a plane carrying Juvenal Habyarimana, Rwanda's then president. In the wake of the killing of Habyarimana, an ethnic Hutu, Hutu extremists slaughtered about 800,000 people, most of them minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus.Rwandan denial:  The French warrants against Kabuye and eight other individuals suspected of involvement in Habyarimana's death were issued in 2006. All of those sought by France have close ties to Kagame. Rwanda ended formal diplomatic ties with France after the warrants were issued. Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda's information minister, said that Kabuye was not surprised at being arrested on arrival in Frankfurt.  "She received warnings through the Rwanda government that it had received from Germany two days ago, but it was important for Mrs Kabuye to face this warrant and finally show that she is innocent," Mushikiwabo told Al Jazeera.  "President Kagame has always denounced the fallacy of these arrest warrants. These warrants are politically motivated and were put together by testimony of people who have their own agenda against the Rwandan government.  "In fact, some of the people who testified to the judge have since retracted their testimony." Kabuye's arrest comes seven months after she visited Germany, as part of an official delegation led by Kagame.  During that visit, Berlin said that it was aware of the warrant, but that its laws prevented the detention of representatives of foreign states on official visits.  Kabuye's arrest on Sunday occurred because she "was at the Frankfurt airport on a private basis", a diplomat told AFP news agency.

Related stories: French Judge Accuses Rwanda's Kagame of Causing 1994 Genocide, UN: Gen Laurent Nkunda blamed for war crimes in Congo

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