Raphael Constant (France), the lead counsel for former Chief of Cabinet in the Ministry of defense, Colonel Theoneste Bagosora. “When UNAMIR went for the tactical mission in August 1993, we only knew of two parties which signed the Arusha peace accord, but in November we realized there was a third force on the side of the Rwandan government which planned to derail the Arusha Peace accord,” Beardsley explained. He added that the third group “was determined to discredit UNAMIR, to torpedo the Arusha peace accord. It was prepared to kill. ”He explained how the UN mission was encouraged by a moderate group which existed on the part of the government, but “the government was split in two, one side complied with the Arusha Peace Accord and the other was undermining the accord. UNAMIR made an effort to find out who the third force were, how many they were, how many weapons they had and where they were,” he continued. The defense counsel had asked the accused a question regarding a letter on 3rd December 1993, which had been sent by senior RPF soldiers to UNAMIR informing them that president Habyarimana had a ‘Machiavellian plan' to exterminate Tutsis and Belgians. “You said you did not know who carried out the massacres in November but the letter of 3rd December says Habyarimana. You now mention the government's third force. So you knew who killed?,” Constant challenged the witness. “Habyarimana seemed to be remote from the whole situation he was not supportive to the mission, the RPF sent us allegations weekly but we did not take all the allegations seriously all the time,” the witness replied. Major Beardsley was then challenged as to why UNAMIR trusted the December 3, 1993 letter. “You said there was a group of Anti-Arusha Peace Accord. Wasthis based on any substantial information or was it just hearsay?” asked the defense counsel. “A series of events led us to that conclusion. The coup in Burundi, the South was destabilized, the RTLM was broadcasting anti-Belgium statements and the two killings in November led us to conclude that there was a group attempting to block the Arusha accord,” he retorted. Bagosora is jointly accused with the former chief of operations of the former Rwandan army. Brigadier Gratien Kabiligi, the former militarycommander of Gisenyi region, Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva, and Major Aloys Ntabakuze, who was the commander of the Para-commando battalion based In Kanombe (Kigali). All have pleaded not guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. The trial continues in Trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of Judge Erik Møse from Norway (presiding), Judge Serguei Aleckseievich Egorov from Russia and Judge Jai Ram Reddy of Fiji. SV/CE/FH (ML'0204e)