\nArusha, 22 April 2008 (FH) - A protected witness testified before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Tuesday that secret negotiations had proceeded on several occasions between the then pro-Hutu Rwandan government and the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) between 1990 and 1993.\n<\/p>\n
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\nCalled by the defence of Edouard Karemera, a former Vice President of the then ruling party, the MRND, the witness, known only by pseudonym "LLK " and who seems to have been involved in the Rwandan diplomacy under the former regime, explained that these meetings had initially been held in Gbadolite then in Kampala, Brussels, Harare and Paris.\n<\/p>\n
\nThey preceded the opening of official negotiations in Arusha, Tanzania.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe last meeting, specified LLK, coincided with an agreement concluded between the RPF and some Rwandan opposition parties following a meeting which was held in Brussels between 23 May and 9 June 1992. "The RPF then felt strong enough to negotiate", he responded when questioned by defence attorney Felix Sow of Senegal.\n<\/p>\n
\nAfter the RPF attack from Uganda in October 1990, the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL) had charged President Mobutu Sese Seko with mediation, but he had been quickly rejected.\n<\/p>\n
\nIt was only in 1992 that another official mediation was launched under the chairmanship of the then Tanzanian President, Ali Hassan Mwinyi.\n<\/p>\n
\nPB\/AT\/MM\/SC\n<\/p>\n
\n© Hirondelle News Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, 22 April 2008 (FH) - A protected witness testified before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Tuesday that secret negotiations had proceeded on several occasions between the then pro-Hutu Rwandan government and the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) between 1990 and 1993.<\/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-20047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n