Rwanda Probe Exonerates Kagame over Habyarimana’s Death

A probe into the 1994 downing of former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana's plane has reported that the former leader was killed by members of his inner circle who were opposed to the idea of sharing power with the Tutsi-rebels Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).

According to the report, Habyarimana’s death was plotted by the ‘Akazu’, a cabal of Hutu extremists close to him who wanted to prevent him from implementing a power sharing deal that would bring the RPF into government. Colonel Theoneste Bagosora is pinpointed as the plot’s mastermind of the plot.

Contrary to widespread reports that Habyarimana’s plane was downed by the RPF rebels, then led by current President Paul Kagame, the report says the jet was hit by two surface-to-air missiles released by soldiers from his own presidential guard, probably under Colonel Basogora’s command.

Habyarimana’s death touched off a three month genocide in which 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed before Kagame’s RPF surged into power. [PE]