Rwanda rules out breaking diplomatic relations with Germany

[TheLancinator]

Rwanda rules out breaking diplomatic relations with Germany
Agence France Presse


KIGALI (AFP) – Rwanda said on Friday that it did not plan to break off diplomatic relations with Germany in spite of the expulsion of Berlin's ambassador to Kigali.

The envoy, Christain Clages, was told to leave on Tuesday after the arrest in Germany on Sunday of a close colleague of President Paul Kagame under an arrest warrant issued by France, a move that prompted a major diplomatic row.

"We do not want to break off diplomatic relations (with Germany)" Information Minister Louise Mushikiwabo told AFP.

"We wanted to register a strong protest."

She condemned the arrest of Rose Kabuye, head of the presidential protocol service, over her alleged involvement in the assassination of the former president, Juvenal Habyarimana, which is widely considered to have triggered the 1994 genocide.

Mushikiwabo said the warrant, issued by French anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere against Kabuye and eight other Kagame aides, was "disputable and disputed."

"Diplomatic relations have not been broken off. The ambassador left but all the other (German) diplomats stayed," she said.

Diplomats in Kigali were summoned Thursday to to be told "officially" of the Rwanda protests, she added.

"We explained to them the reasons why she left in spite of warnings" not to go, Mushikawbao said.

"She was on an official mission and she is innocent."

[Meursault]

I don't get why the rwandans are pissed at germany. If there's a european search warrant for that woman, the authorities had no legal choice but to extradite her.