RWANDA RESISTING 'BULLY' FRANCE !
Mr Kagame said the allegations were politically motivated. Rwandan President Paul Kagame has accused France of "bullying" his country after a French judge issued arrest warrants for his top aides.
Mr Kagame told the BBC his decision to break diplomatic ties were to show Rwanda would not be intimidated.
The arrest warrants were for the 1994 assassination of Rwanda's former president, which sparked genocide.
Mr Kagame said the judge should instead investigate France's role in the killing of some 800,000 people.
"We have to stand up to this bullying that has been going on for a long time by the French against Rwanda," Mr Kagame told the BBC's Network Africa programme at the start of a four-day trip to the UK.
"Nobody has a right to fabricate stories and incriminate people," he said.
If there is a judge, a credible judge... [he] should be asking the role of the French in the genocide
Paul Kagame]
Mr Kagame told the BBC his decision to break diplomatic ties were to show Rwanda would not be intimidated.
The arrest warrants were for the 1994 assassination of Rwanda's former president, which sparked genocide.
Mr Kagame said the judge should instead investigate France's role in the killing of some 800,000 people.
"We have to stand up to this bullying that has been going on for a long time by the French against Rwanda," Mr Kagame told the BBC's Network Africa programme at the start of a four-day trip to the UK.
"Nobody has a right to fabricate stories and incriminate people," he said.
If there is a judge, a credible judge... [he] should be asking the role of the French in the genocide
Paul Kagame]
Profile: Paul Kagame
French institutions, including schools, were closed and Radio France Internationale (RFI) was taken off the air in the country.
French investigating judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere last month said Mr Kagame should stand trial at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on charges of shooting down the plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana.
Genocide plans
Under French law, Mr Kagame has immunity from prosecution as head of state, so Judge Bruguiere only issued arrest warrants for nine of his top aides - including armed forces chief James Kabarebe and army chief-of-staff Charles Kayonga.
French legal authorities are investigating Habyarimana's death because his aircraft had a French crew.
The judge said that only Mr Kagame's then rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) had missiles capable of shooting down the plane.
Mr Kagame has denied this.
Shortly after Habyarimana's death, Hutu extremists started killing ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus, accusing the largely Tutsi-dominated RPF of the assassination.
The RPF has always said the Hutu extremists killed Habyarimana to provide a pretext to start the long-planned genocide.
The killings ended 100 days later when the RPF took power.
Mr Kagame has always accused France of backing the Hutu extremists, known as the Interahamwe.
"If there is a judge, a credible judge... [he] should be asking the role of the French in the genocide," he said.
French investigating judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere last month said Mr Kagame should stand trial at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on charges of shooting down the plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana.
Genocide plans
Under French law, Mr Kagame has immunity from prosecution as head of state, so Judge Bruguiere only issued arrest warrants for nine of his top aides - including armed forces chief James Kabarebe and army chief-of-staff Charles Kayonga.
French legal authorities are investigating Habyarimana's death because his aircraft had a French crew.
The judge said that only Mr Kagame's then rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) had missiles capable of shooting down the plane.
Mr Kagame has denied this.
Shortly after Habyarimana's death, Hutu extremists started killing ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus, accusing the largely Tutsi-dominated RPF of the assassination.
The RPF has always said the Hutu extremists killed Habyarimana to provide a pretext to start the long-planned genocide.
The killings ended 100 days later when the RPF took power.
Mr Kagame has always accused France of backing the Hutu extremists, known as the Interahamwe.
"If there is a judge, a credible judge... [he] should be asking the role of the French in the genocide," he said.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
posted by jackaranda at 1:55 pm
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