General who warned UN on genocide retires early

Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire of Canada, the commander of the UN peacekeeping troops in Rwanda in 1994 who warned the UN in advance of the imminent Rwandan genocide, is set to retire next week, a year earlier than the mandatory retirement age of 55 for senior officers, as a result of the trauma of what he witnessed. Dallaire said the psychological wounds associated with viewing the Rwandan genocide without being able to stop it
had caused him nightmares and health problems, Associated Press (AP) reported on Wednesday. Dallaire said he planned to write, lecture and teach about his experiences, and tell his side of the Rwanda story, which he has been unable to do because of military restrictions. "I need to get that out ... I think a lot of that will be useful to people who command in the future," he added.

The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold an open meeting on the so-called Carlsson Report on the UN's role during the 1994 genocide on Friday. The highly critical report from former Swedish premier Ingvar Carlsson, who headed an independent enquiry, was presented to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in December.