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Rwanda complains to UN over German arrest of aide
14 Nov 2008 23:28:56 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Rwanda complained to the United Nations on Friday about Germany's arrest of a senior aide to President Paul Kagame and called on the world body to intervene in the growing dispute between Kigali and Berlin.

In a statement sent by Rwanda's permanent mission to the United Nations to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and all other 191 members of the United Nations, Kigali said the arrest violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations as well as other international treaties.

"The arrest of Mrs. Rose Kabuye was not only done in bad faith but is also disrespectful of a sovereign member of the United Nations," the statement obtained by Reuters said.

Kabuye, director general of state protocol in Rwanda, was arrested at Frankfurt airport on Sunday by German police acting on an international warrant issued by France for her and eight other Kagame associates.

She had arrived in Germany to prepare for a visit by Kagame, who has been touring European countries. He was in Frankfurt on Tuesday and condemned her detention.

Kabuye is accused of involvement in the 1994 shooting down of a plane that killed Rwanda's then-president, Juvenal Habyarimana, leading to a campaign of genocide that left 800,000 dead in the central African nation.

"Rwanda calls upon the United Nations to play its proper role of sustaining international order by encouraging proper application of international law and mutual respect of national sovereignty," the Rwandan statement said.

Ties between France and Rwanda have been badly strained since the warrants were issued. The German government has said it was obliged to act on the French arrest warrant.

The Rwandan statement cited an earlier decision of the African Union calling on all U.N. member states, above all European Union countries, to ignore the French warrants "until all the legal and political issues have been exhaustively discussed" by the AU, EU and United Nations.

Habyarimana's plane was hit by a missile in 1994 and his death ignited mass killings of Tutsis and some moderate Hutus. Kagame was then leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which defeated the government's Hutu militias to end the genocide. (Editing by Peter Cooney)


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European Union Aid Commissioner Louis Michel addresses the media in Kigali October 31, 2008. Michel is in Rwanda for talks with President Paul Kagame after visiting Democratic Republic of Congo's President ...



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Last updated:Fri Nov 14 23:32:10 2008