\nArusha, January 26, 2003 (FH) - The former commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Rwanda (UNAMIR), General Romeo Dallaire (retired), Monday claimed before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), that part of the former Rwandan armed forces (ex-FAR) were against the continuation of war in 1994. Gen.\n<\/p>\n
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\nDallaire was testifying for the sixth day running in the trial of four senior army officers of the ex-FAR. He served in Rwanda from October 1993 to August 1994. Dallaire named General Marcel Gatsinzi and General Leonidas Rusatira as among those who wanted a peaceful resolution of the conflict that pitted the army against the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) now in power in Kigali. Gatsinzi was named chief of staff of the army on April 7, 1994 but he was replaced nine days later by General Augustin Bizimungu. The Canadian general continued that though Gatsinzi and \"may be 40 or 60 percent\" of the army were tired of the war and wanted a ceasefire with the RPF, another part of the army worked hand-in-hand with Interahamwe militia to undermine their efforts. He claimed that \"about 17,000 militia were trained in (army) camps\" outside the normal structure. The prosecutor describes the Interahamwe, the presidential guards and the Para-commando battalion as having \"spearheaded\" the genocide. Topping the list in the so-called \"Military I trial\" is the former director of cabinet in the Rwanda minister of defence in 1994, Colonel Theoneste Bagosora. He is considered by the prosecution as the \"mastermind \"of the genocide. Bagosora is jointly charged with the former chief of operations of the former Rwandan army, Brigadier Gratien Kabiligi, the former military commander 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 conspiracy to commit genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity that claimed the lives of an estimated one million Tutsis and Hutu members of the opposition. Dallaire revealed that though Gatsinzi's replacement, Bizimungu, was \"a ferocious fighter and an excellent battalion commander\", who had proven himself on the battle field, he was well entrenched in the anti-Tutsi and anti-RPF ideology. General Augustin Bizimungu is also in detention at the ICTR and is set to a appear in what is known as \"Miitary II\" trial. \"Military I\" trial continues in Trial Chamber One of the ICTR composed of Judge Erik M\u00f8se from Norway, Judge Serguei Aleckseievich Egorov from Russia, and Judge Jai Ram Reddy of Fiji. KN\/AT\/FH (ML''0126E)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, January 26, 2003 (FH) - The former commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Rwanda (UNAMIR), General Romeo Dallaire (retired), Monday claimed before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), that part of the former Rwandan armed forces (ex-FAR) were against the continuation of war in 1994. Gen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-18434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n