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RWANDA/EX-ARMY CHIEFBack
[Published: Saturday June 19 2010]

Rwanda ex-army chief Nyamwasa shot in Johannesburg

Johannesburg, 19 Jun-(ANA)-A former Rwandan army chief of staff, Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, has been shot in South Africa and taken to hospital in a critical condition.

His wife said the couple had been returning from shopping when a gunman opened fire on the car.

She said it was an assassination attempt as there had been no demand for money or goods.

Lt Gen Nyamwasa, an outspoken critic of President Paul Kagame, fled from Kigali in February.

He was shot in the stomach during the midday attack and is now undergoing surgery in a Johannesburg clinic.

Mrs Nyamwasa said the gunman had shot at them until his gun jammed.

A couple of months after Lt Gen Nyamwasa went into exile, along with another top military officer, President Kagame reshuffled the military leadership ahead of elections due in August.

At the time, two high-ranking officers were also suspended and put under house arrest.

The elections will be the second presidential polls held since the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.

France and Spain have issued arrest warrants against Mr Nyamwasa for his alleged role in the lead-up to and during the genocide, along with other senior RPF figures.

He has also been blamed for a series of grenade attacks in Kigali in recent months, something he vehemently denies.

Mr Kagame, in power for the last 16 years, is viewed by many in the West as one of Africa's more dynamic leaders.

However critics have raised concerns about his more authoritarian tendencies and the government has recently been accused of harassing the opposition ahead of the elections. (ANA)

FA/ANA/19 June 2010------------


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