The United States Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), Deputy Director for Human Intelligence, William Huntington, is in the country for a four day visit aimed at expanding his awareness of Africa.

According to the U.S. Defence Attaché at the American Embassy Maj. Ronald Miller, Huntington is visiting Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda but will spend more days in Rwanda than in the rest of the countries.

All U.S. Defence Attachés directly report to Huntington’s office and so far the US has 138 Defence attachés across the world.

"The reason he is spending more time in Rwanda is because of the reputation the country has made in terms of development and restoration of peace in the region, including the Darfur contribution and the Umoja Wetu joint operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),” said Miller.

Huntington paid a courtesy call on Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. James Kabarebe, who gave him the overview of several success stories of his forces and how Rwanda is fairing in conducting regional peacekeeping missions.

"Rwanda and U.S have a good peacekeeping relations and the country being the heart of Africa meant a lot to him,” said Miller. 

He added that, Huntington is expected to tour several parts of the country including Gako Military Academy and meet with some officials from the government and the US embassy in Rwanda.

The DIA is an intelligence agency in the US Department of Defence (DoD) and is responsible for providing intelligence in support of military planning and operations.

The Directorate for Human Intelligence (DH) manages DIA’s and the DoD’s human source intelligence collection, including the Defence Attache System, and is the primary interface between the DoD and the National Clandestine Service.

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