Cablegate: President Kagame's Media Comments On Kenya

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DE RUEHLGB #0106 0391106
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081106Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5108
INFO RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 0196
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 0242
RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 1056
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1821
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RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1138
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0418

UNCLAS KIGALI 000106

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV RW
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT KAGAME'S MEDIA COMMENTS ON KENYA

1. (U) Recent comments made by Rwandan President Paul Kagame
about the use of military force to resolve the situation in
Kenya have resulted in a series of articles in local and
international media, both critical and supportive of his
views. In one interview, Kagame expressed a desire to see
more action taken by stable Kenyan institutions, in the
interest of preventing further violence, while at the same
time supporting UN efforts to mediate the conflict. In
another, Kagame more explicitly suggested military
intervention in the Kenyan crisis. Kagame subsequently
sought to clarify and expand upon his viewpoint, saying he
supported ongoing dialogues but hoped that action would be
taken if conditions on the ground in Kenya continued to
deteriorate. Finally he offered three possible non-military
solutions to the crisis - another presidential election, a
re-count of the first election, or a power-sharing agreement
to stabilize the country.

2. (SBU) Comment: Kagame supports the UN-led peace process
and existing structures in Kenya. However, he also speaks as
a former military leader, who watched as a discredited
government engaged in wholesale slaughter in Rwanda's 1994
genocide while the international community engaged in
"dialogue" and self-serving indecision. We in the U.S. call
out the national guard when domestic civil disorder descends
into mayhem and bloody conflict (as in a number of our
twentieth century urban riots). His comments on the need for
intervention if the violence does not stop in Kenya should be
seen in that light. End comment.

ARIETTI

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