Rwandans protest official's extradition

KIGALI, Rwanda, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Rwanda's capital of Kigali was quiet as its residents turned out to protest against the extradition from Germany of a top Rwandan official to France.

Tens of thousands of people gathered Wednesday around the German Embassy to protest the extradition of Rose Kabuye on a 2006 French indictment claiming her involvement in the 1994 downing of a plane that killed Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, the tipping point for the genocide in which 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died, the Voice of America reported Thursday.

Kabuye was arrested last week in Germany, which recently released Callixte Mbarushimana, the secretary-general of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, many of whom were responsible for the genocide.

Several Rwandans told VOA they're puzzled why Germany would release Mbarushimana and then arrest Kabuye, protocol chief for Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

"But now if you look at a country like Germany arresting Rose," Jeff Madali said. "Germany is a place where people who committed genocide are staying comfortably. ... But Rose, who is on diplomatic duty, is being arrested for nothing at all. It is so shaming."

Rwanda broke off diplomatic relations with France in 2006 after the indictments were handed down. In August, Rwanda issued a report outlining French involvement in the genocide and raised the possibility of indicting French military and political officials, including former President Francois Mitterand.