By Arthur Asiimwe KIGALI, April 1 (Reuters) - Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Tuesday angrily dismissed a Spanish judge's indictment of 40 Rwandan military and political leaders on charges they engaged in reprisal killings after the African country's 1994 genocide. In February, Judge Fernando Andreu of Spain's National Court set out his case accusing the officials of genocide, crimes against humanity and terrorism which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians, including nine Spaniards. He said he also had evidence to implicate Kagame, but the Rwandan president had immunity. In his first reaction to the case, Kagame scoffed at the charges. "Imagine the arrogance involved -- how can a Spanish judge sit in some town or village in Spain and sees it is his duty to indict the whole leadership of a nation," Kagame told reporters in Kigali. "This is part of perceived authority over us to decide how we live or not. He has no moral authority in doing that. ... If I met him, I would tell him to go to hell -- they have no jurisdiction over Rwanda, over me or over anybody." Spain's high court has in the past prosecuted South American leaders, including former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, on human rights charges. Kagame said the Spanish judge's dossier was meant to undermine his ruling party, credited with stopping the 1994 murder of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus by Hutu gangs. Most of the indicted officers belonged to the contingent that protected Kagame during a four year guerrilla war. They include Rwanda's chief of general staff and his deputy, as well as a Rwandan ambassador in India. The Rwandan government denies it had any role in reprisal killings. On April 7th, Rwanda will commemorate 14 years after the genocide. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Editing by Bryson Hull and Mary Gabriel)
Ali Hassan al-Majeed listens to the prosecution during the "Anfal" genocide trial in Baghdad in this December 18, 2006 file photo. Iraq's presidency council has cleared the way for the long-delayed ...
