By Claudia Parsons UNITED NATIONS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The chief U.N. prosecutor for Rwanda said on Friday Kenya was failing to act against a top fugitive despite information from Kenya's own police force indicating that he was in the country. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, based in Tanzania, was established in 1994 after ethnic Hutu militias slaughtered some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 100 days of carnage in the Central African country. The tribunal's top priority is to track down 13 remaining fugitives wanted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, chief prosecutor Hassan Jallow told the U.N. Security Council. Among them is Felicien Kabuga, a Hutu businessman accused of financing the militias. Jallow said a joint task force of the tribunal and Kenyan police had found evidence of Kabuga's entry into Kenya, application for residency status, approval for a visa and opening a bank account. "There is no indication of any steps taken by the government of Kenya, other than the earlier seizure of one property, to implement the recommendations of the ... task force," Jallow told the Security Council. Kenya froze Kabuga's assets in May. The United States has put a $5 million bounty on his head. Kenyan Ambassador Zachary Muburi-Muita said Nairobi was cooperating fully with the tribunal and questioned the assertion that Kabuga was in Kenya. "These allegations are not only untrue, they are also of grave concern to my country," he told the council, pointing to the seizure of assets as a sign of Kenya's cooperation. "Should Mr. Kabuga ever be found on Kenyan soil he will likewise be apprehended and surrendered," he said. U.S. envoy Rosemary DiCarlo told the council Washington was troubled by Kenya's "lack of urgency" in the case and urged it take further steps against Kabuga. Jallow said the remaining fugitives were believed to be in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. He said talks with Congo's government on tracking them down had been encouraging but recent fighting in the area was setting back efforts to find and arrest them. Jallow said the other challenge facing the tribunal was to ensure that outstanding cases can be transferred to Rwanda. So far judges have rejected applications to do that because of fears about the safety of defense witnesses in Rwanda and the possible reluctance of witnesses to travel to Rwanda. Jallow urged U.N. members to maintain financial support for the tribunal, warning that 20 percent of staff had left since January and more could leave due to uncertainty about the future of the tribunal. Since it began work in 1997, the court has delivered at least 34 judgments. Five of them were acquittals. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2008 A shoe vendor waits for customers behind graffiti after post-election violence in Nairobi's Kibera slum January 19, 2008. Kenyan riot police patrolled the capital on ...
