ICTR pins ex-MRND boss on arming Interahamwe

KIGALI - Prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has accused Mathieu Ngirumpatse, the former President of former ruling party MRND, of having called for the arming and training of Interahamwe militia almost a year before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis. Cross-examining Francois Karera, the former Governor of Kigali Rural, who was also convicted for Genocide, Prosecution counsel Saidou N’Dow produced a letter allegedly written by Ngirumpatse ordering the secret training and arming of youth to fight Tutsis. According to agencies, the letter dated February 15, 1993, was among the documents retrieved when Ngirumpatse was arrested in Mali in1998. ‘’You claim that MRND was the party for peace and unity. But in the letter, Ngirumpatse called for the secret training and arming of youths,” N’Dow said to Karera during the cross examination. “How would the party which represents peace and unity call for training and arming civilians secretly?’’ he asked. In a report carried by Hirondelle News Agency, Karera justified the act of secretly training the army, but the Prosecutor reminded him that it was not about training the army, but rather training and arming civilians. Ends

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ICTR pins ex-MRND boss on arming Interahamwe