Officials ‘protecting Kabuga’
The US cables say a group of politicians and intelligence agents have conspired to hide Rwanda genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga. Photo/FILE
A few top government officials have kept Rwandan fugitive Felicien Kabuga from facing charges of crimes against humanity, American cables released by WikiLeaks say.
Mr Kabuga is accused of funding the Rwandan genocide and is supposed to appear before an international tribunal in Tanzania.
But the US cables say a group of politicians and intelligence agents have conspired to hide him.
This is said to have angered the international community and the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), prompting the UN Security Council to reprimand Kenya over the fugitive.
In a confidential cable to his Washington bosses in December 2007, ambassador Michael Ranneberger narrates the pressure by countries under the umbrella of Friends of ICTR to hand over the wealthy Rwandan fugitive who they are convinced is in Kenya.
The cable also brings out the anger and exasperation of ICTR judge Hassan Jallow, who has spent more than 15 years trying to have Kenya hand over Mr Kabuga.
A former Foreign Affairs minister allegedly admitted to a US embassy political officer that some government officials made it impossible for investigators to trace the fugitive.
The US has placed a bounty of $5 million)on the head of Mr Kabuga, who has been on the run since 1995.
The Kenyan Government has continuously denied hosting the fugitive.
On Sunday, Internal Security minister Orwa Ojodeh invited Mr Ranneberger to share the intelligence he has with the government to expedite investigations.
