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cwemory
Joined: 14 Jan 2006
Location: Gunpo, Korea
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 Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 6:10 am Post subject: Rwanda's president blames France for genocide |
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Kagame blames France for genocide
Al-Jazeera.net
Senior Hutu commanders backed by France shot down the plane carrying Rwanda's president in 1994, killing him and touching off a genocide, Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president, has said.
In an exclusive interview with Reuters on Saturday, Kagame said that France harboured former government officials who masterminded the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus during 100 days of bloodshed after former-president Juvenal Habyarimana's death in the plane crash.
Kagame said: "The International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR) has information pointing to people who were responsible for gunning down Habyarimana's plane, and these are Hutu extremists including senior commanders at the time of that government with the support of France."
Ties severed
Kagame made his comments a day after Kigali severed diplomatic ties with Paris, furious at a French judge who issued arrest warrants for nine of Kagame's associates and called for Kagame to face trial over the downing of Habyarimana's plane.
The case has revived Rwanda's festering enmity towards its former ally France, which it says armed, trained and gave orders to those who carried out the genocide.
Shortly after the interview, Rwandan officials said French ambassador Dominique Decherf had boarded a plane for Paris. The Belgian foreign ministry said it had agreed with Rwanda that it could protect the French embassy and French interests in Rwanda.
The charges have also dealt a personal blow to Kagame, whose rebel Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), defeated the Hutu extremists in a march across the country to the capital Kigali.
He recalled how the press in 1994 reported plans to assassinate Habyarimana from within his own camp, and accused French soldiers and presidential guards of preventing UN forces from accessing the crash site as part of their inquiry.
"All this is put aside and the blame is apportioned to RPF. The French know who shot down the plane. It must be them who are responsible," Kagame said. |
rest here: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/323CAE89-1222-44CE-AEE7-FFF5F6622C92.htm |
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cbclark4
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Location: Masan
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 6:55 am Post subject: |
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I agree with Paul Kugame.
The French should solve this problem it's all their fault.
cbc |
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 6:56 am Post subject: |
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| France is by NO MEANS alone but between them and Belgium, everything REALLY went south. |
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cbclark4
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Location: Masan
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 7:05 am Post subject: |
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I would not blame the Belgians at all.
It was the French and they knew better.
cbc
Last edited by cbclark4 on Sun Nov 26, 2006 11:59 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Slep
Joined: 14 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 8:31 am Post subject: |
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| Reminds me of a conversation I had with Ken Saro Wiwa (great man, even greater father). He told me that behind every African despot, there's a western, Russian or chinese corporation leader arming and supoorting him. |
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Green Tea
Joined: 04 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 8:46 am Post subject: |
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| People....people! It's the americans fault, like eveything else! Who gave them the guns? americans.... |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:50 pm Post subject: |
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| khyber wrote: |
| France is by NO MEANS alone but between them and Belgium, everything REALLY went south. |
Definitely. Read "Shake Hands with the Devil" for a first hand account by the UN commander. |
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cwemory
Joined: 14 Jan 2006
Location: Gunpo, Korea
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Slep wrote: |
| Reminds me of a conversation I had with Ken Saro Wiwa (great man, even greater father). He told me that behind every African despot, there's a western, Russian or chinese corporation leader arming and supoorting him. |
Just to show how many of the threads are connected: Rwanda was "your" IMF's poster boy for much of the 80s, wasn't it?  |
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Slep
Joined: 14 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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| cwemory wrote: |
| Slep wrote: |
| Reminds me of a conversation I had with Ken Saro Wiwa (great man, even greater father). He told me that behind every African despot, there's a western, Russian or chinese corporation leader arming and supoorting him. |
Just to show how many of the threads are connected: Rwanda was "your" IMF's poster boy for much of the 80s, wasn't it? |
There are plenty of those  |
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Slep
Joined: 14 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 5:59 am Post subject: |
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French legal gambit is hypocritical
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Font: * * * * The Gazette
Published: Monday, November 27, 2006
France's long tradition of cynical ruthlessness in Africa reached a new low this month. Now the government of Rwanda is pushing back firmly after a French judge ruled that Paul Kagame, Rwanda's president, should be tried in the death of his predecessor.
Paris quickly denied any role in the actions of Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, who called this week for the prosecution of Kagame in the 1994 death of Juvenal Habyarimana.
Coming from France, that accusation against Kagame is an affront to decency. Many Rwandans believe the French government was complicit, by both omission and deeds, in the 1994 slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis by the majority Hutus.
The genocide was triggered when Habyarimana's plane blew up in flight. Kagame's mainly-Tutsi guerrilla army finally restored order as it took the country, after 100 days of slaughter. Since then, Rwanda has been peacefully democratic.
Rumours tying Kagame to the air disaster offer no evidence and implausible motives. On the other hand, Kagame's government believes French diplomats and soldiers sided with the Hutu, before and during the carefully-planned killing spree.
After Bruguiere issued international arrest warrants for nine Kagame associates, Rwanda recalled its ambassador to Paris and threatened to cut off relations, calling Bruguiere's report "hollow" and politically motivated. Rwanda is considering international legal action against France over the genocide; some see Bruguiere's move as a bid to discredit that effort.
Bruguiere, a senior judge, has a distinguished record against terrorism. But now he has gone too far. The development of international courts can only be damaged by this sort of gross manipulation.
But here is the worst part: The genocide is an enduring reproach to the rest of the world, and notably to the government of France, which in the kindest interpretation did nothing to forestall mass murder. Attempts to burden Kagame with any of what happened come close to blaming the victims.
� The Gazette (Montreal) 2006 |
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postfundie
Joined: 28 May 2004
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| Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:08 am Post subject: |
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| 'America gave em the guns' ...yeah that doesn't make other people sound like children... |
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W.T.Carl
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Actually, the Hutus use machetes. But then again, they were probably made of US steel. |
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Slep
Joined: 14 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Bulsajo wrote: |
| khyber wrote: |
| France is by NO MEANS alone but between them and Belgium, everything REALLY went south. |
Definitely. Read "Shake Hands with the Devil" for a first hand account by the UN commander. |
Romeo Dallaire accepted a fellowship at the genocide studies program at my university and I got to see him speak. Was really dissapointed, he didnt offer any valuable insight. |
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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| Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:17 am Post subject: |
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I would not blame the Belgians at all.
It was the French and they knew better. |
Alright....that's your choice. But I can assure you that the Belgians DO deserve quite a bit of blame.
oh crap! I had found this really, REAALLLLY good website that explained the chain of events really well. Sorry I can't repost it...
Roman catholic church was at fault too! |
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