Bush honors victims of Rwanda’s genocide

Still under suspicion
Sporadic violence has continued to plague Congo’s volatile no-man’s-land in the east since then, and some suspect Rwanda of still supplying rebel groups. Bush said he and Kagame talked “for a long time” about last year’s peace accord between Rwanda and Congo and last month’s fragile cease-fire forged between Congo’s government and a rebel warlord and other armed groups. The U.S. helped broker both.

“The most important thing is to get results for the agreement and that’s what we discussed today,” Bush said.

Kagame, a Tutsi, was the leader of a Uganda-based rebel group that ousted the Hutu-dominated government and stopped the genocide. He now leads a coalition government where Hutus and Tutsis split key positions.

But though Bush sees Kagame as a respected ally and a man of action, the Rwandan leader is criticized for authoritarian ways.

A French judge also issued international arrest warrants for nine Rwandans close to Kagame for involvement in the rocket attack that downed the former Rwandan president’s plane and sparked the genocide. Rwanda rejects the charges and broke off diplomatic relations with France. And, last week, a Spanish judge indicted 40 members of the military under Kagame, accusing them of committing atrocities while fighting to take power and staging mass killings of Hutus afterward in both Rwanda and Congo.

Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager whose heroism in the face of genocide inspired the movie “Hotel Rwanda” and was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 2005 by Bush, urged the president to push for justice. “Not a single one of them has been punished,” he wrote in a letter. “You, Mr. President, have the power to change Rwanda for the better.”

More from msnbc.com   Images: Korean War recollections, in color Brownstein: The risk of Obama rapture New IVF dilemmas make old fears seem quaint Which storm pounded Texas? Take our news quiz T-Mobile sued over 'mandatory' text fees Showdown over carrying guns in national parks

MORE FROM AFRICA

Africa Section Front

In Africa, Scrabble more than a game Somalia Islamist warns U.N. Irish officials apologize for visa delay Dozens dead in Congo boat accident Bush widens sanctions on Zimbabwe Newsweek: Can Mugabe survive? Africa Section Front   Add Africa headlines to your news reader: