KIGALI, Rwanda, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Paul Kagame, who helped end the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, is expected to win that country's first presidential election set for Monday.
The genocide left some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead.
"This is a giant step that Rwanda has taken in building democracy," Kagame, a former Tutsi rebel leader, told crowds in the capital Kigali Saturday.
Kagame improved his chances when the only female candidate Alivera Mukabaramba withdrew from the race and asked her supporters to back Kagame, the BBC reported.
The main challenger is Faustin Twagiramungu. The third candidate is Jean Nepomuscene Nayinzira.
Twagiramungu, a former prime minister and Hutu moderate who returned from exile this year, has been accused by the Rwandan authorities of fomenting ethnic divisions -- a charge he denies.
The international community will be watching to see whether the poll marks the beginning of a genuine democracy or whether it will only help consolidate Kagame's grip on power.
