Kagame's Rwandan poll victory welcomed, despite 'irregularities'

The Foreign Secretary has welcomed the election of the new president of Rwanda and expressed his hope that this would mark the "start of a new chapter in the political life and development" of the country.

Jack Straw congratulated Paul Kagame on his victory – in which he attracted 95% of the popular vote – despite the fact that independent observers have reported "irregularities in the electoral process". The chief electoral commissioner for Rwanda, Chrysologue Karangwa, has however dismissed these claims and defended the electoral process as "free and fair".

The Foreign Secretary said that Rwanda had come "a long way" since "the terrible events of the genocide" in 1994 when up to 800,000 people killed in inter-tribal conflict between Hutus and Tutsis.

"Significant progress has been made on reconciliation and reconstruction. But there are still many challenges as Rwanda moves towards the realisation of a fully democratic and inclusive state," said Mr Straw.

"We look to President Kagame to continue the opening of political space and dialogue in Rwanda, particularly in the lead-up to the forthcoming legislative elections. Britain will continue to work with the government and people of Rwanda as they build a new nation," he added.

Elsewhere, a separate prosecutor's post was created today for the UN war crimes tribunal for Rwanda after the Security Council decided to split the prosecutorial duties of the two UN courts trying cases stemming from the 1994 genocide and the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

The 15-nation Council unanimously adopted a resolution that divided the prosecutor's job - which is currently held by one person, Carla Del Ponte, who has occupied the post since 1999 - saying that it was convinced the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) could both operate "most efficiently and expeditiously" if each had its own lead attorney.

(gmcg)