Rwanda cuts ties with France
Last Updated: Friday, November 24, 2006 | 3:04 PM ET
The Associated Press
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Rwanda severed diplomatic ties with France on Friday after a French judge issued international arrest warrants for nine Rwandans suspected of plotting the 1994 killing of the African nation's president.
The French Foreign Ministry said it regretted Rwanda's decision and was "taking all necessary arrangements."
France's ambassador in Rwanda, Dominique Decherf, will leave the country Saturday. The 29 other embassy personnel in the capital of Kigali were leaving by Monday evening, embassy security chief Serge Kulmicht told the Associated Press.
On Wednesday, a French judge issued arrest warrants for nine ranking Rwandans suspected of plotting the downing of President Juvenal Habyarimana's airplane on April 6, 1994.
The act sparked the country's genocide. More than 500,000 people were killed in 100 days.
The officials targeted by the French judge are close to Rwanda's current president, Paul Kagame, and the decision has enflamed tensions.
Rwandan Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama said the move was a response to French "bullying."
"There is no reason why there should be diplomatic relations with a country that is actually attempting to destabilize the institutions of Rwanda's government," Karugarama told the Associated Press.
The French anti-terrorism judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, is investigating the case because the crew on the downed plane was French.
After the attack, Hutu militants set up roadblocks and killed Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
The question of who shot down the plane has been a central mystery of the genocide. Bruguiere, in his warrant request, said Kagame gave the final order for the attack.
No warrant for Kagame
France will not issue a warrant for Kagame, as France grants immunity to acting heads of state.
Those targeted in the warrant include armed forces chief James Kabarebe and army chief of staff Charles Kayonga.
Warrants also were issued for those suspected by the French judge of attacking the plane — Franck Nziza, believed to be a captain in the presidential guard, and Eric Hakizimana, of the secret service.
Kagame called the judge "an impostor, a politician" in an interview Wednesday with France-Culture radio.
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