RNA

28/09/09

Kigali: Close to nine months after his arrest on the DR Congo battle front, rebel General Laurent Nkunda has sought unsuccessfully to meet with senior Rwandan officials. He now wants to meet President Kagame – probably for the first ever encounter, RNA reports.

General Nkunda has tried on many occasions to meet Foreign Affairs Minister Rosemary Museminari, Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama and Defense Minister Marcel Gatsinzi, according to lawyer Stephane Bourgon.

Due to the sensitivity of the case, no official has spoken about the fate of the General who caused mayhem in eastern DRC before he was surprisingly removed from the scene on January 23. The army has been holding him first in Northern Rwanda, and now in Kigali.

After filing an application with military court last week, Mr. Bourgon has written to the Office of the President seeking to petition President Kagame himself over the release of the former rebel commander said to be moving freely here in Kigali with tight security.

If this encounter ever takes place, it could be the first, according to President who has insisted that he has never met General Nkunda.

“I don't know Laurent Nkunda. I have never met him, I have never seen him anywhere apart from the television, and I have never spoken to him on telephone. I hope that is clear.” Mr. Kagame told French magazine ‘Jeune Afrique’ in March.

Rwanda News Agency