afrol News, 25 July - Rwanda it set to withdraw its 3 000 peacekeepers from war torn Darfur region of Sudan, if United Nations fails to retain a top Rwandan commander accused of 1990s war crimes, officials said.

UN has sought to persuade Rwandan government to replace Maj Gen Emmanuel Karake Karenzi, the deputy force commander of a joint African Union and UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur after Spanish judge indicted him and 39 other Rwandan officers in February for alleged war crimes in Rwanda in the mid-1990s.

However, reports say Rwandan government has rejected UN request, saying that allegations are groundless and that Gen Karenzi has performed with distinction in Darfur. Rwandan officials are further saying international judge’s accusation were politically motivated.

"We have written to UN saying that if they don't renew his contract we might be forced to review our presence. We would need to come up with better reasons to remain in Darfur if his contract is not renewed," said Ms Rosemary Museminari, Rwanda's foreign affairs minister.

Rwanda's UN envoy Mr Joseph Nsengimana sent an unsigned memo to the international body on Monday threatening to pull Rwandan peacekeepers out of Darfur if it proceeded with plans to push Gen Karenzi out, senior UN official said.

United States has sided with the Rwandan government, citing concerns that a Rwandan pullout would cripple the already staggering peacekeeping mission that has less than 10 000 of approved 26 000 troops in the region.

US administration maintains that peacekeepers provide best hope of protecting Darfur's civilians from a government-backed counterinsurgency that has led to deaths of more than 300,000 civilians and driven nearly 3 million from their homes.

Current Rwandan president Paul Kagame's Tutsi-dominated rebel army, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), helped to oust former government from power and thus considers Gen Karenzi, a war hero who helped end genocide.

But the general's record has come under scrutiny since his appointment last year, as Human Rights Watch, claimed Rwandan forces under his command and their Ugandan rivals showed a blatant disregard for lives of civilians during a June 2000 battle in the Congolese town of Kisangani.

In February, Spanish High Court judge Fernando Andreu accused Rwandan military and political leaders, including Mr Karake, of engaging in reprisal killings after the country's 100 days of slaughter in 1994.

Judge accuses officials for genocide, crimes against humanity and terrorism which resulted in deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians, including Spaniards. He said he also had evidence to implicate Rwandan president Paul Kagame.

Mr Karenzi, who was Rwanda's intelligence chief, had command responsibility for a series of political assassinations and massacres, including elimination of Hutu populations in the towns of Nyakinama and Mukingo between 1994 and 1997, the Spanish indictment said.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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