U.K. arrests Rwandan intelligence officer over war crimes

LONDON, June 23 (UPI) -- U.K. officials arrested Rwanda intelligence chief Emmanuel Karenzi Karake at Heathrow airport in London in "connection to war crimes," the British High Commission confirmed Tuesday.

The British High Commission also confirmed Tuesday Karake, 54, the chief of Rwanda's National Intelligence and Security Services, was arrested by The Metropolitan Police on behalf of the Spanish authorities on June 20.

Spain issued a European Arrest Warrant for Karake back in 2008. Karake appeared in front of a judge on Saturday and will remain in custody until his next court appearance on Thursday.

Rwandan minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Louise Mushikiwabo cited her outrage over the arrest Tuesday, adding that the Spanish organizations behind the European Arrest Warrant were the same ones who supported a Hutu militia group.

Hutu extremists orchestrated a three-month killing spree in 1994 aimed at minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Triggered by the plane crash death of President Juvenal Habyarimana, the killing was stopped by the Rwandan Patriotic Front of which Karake was a member.

Following the cease-fire, right groups accused the Front of killing thousands of Hutu civilians, which a Spanish judge used as the basis of his accusations against Karake and 39 other officers in 2008.

Former U.K. public official Andrew Mitchell added that the arrest was unfounded and politically motivated.