Kagame mends fences with Zambia

President Paul Kagame returned to Kigali on 18 March from a three-day visit to South Africa aimed at “consolidating” bilateral relations. According to a press release from the presidential spokesman, Nicholas Shalita, Kagame held extensive talks with his South African counterpart, Thabo Mbeki, on issues concerning the Great Lakes region and Rwanda’s withdrawal from the DRC. Kagame’s special envoy, Patrick Mazimhaka, described relations with South Africa as excellent, adding that meetings would soon take place at ministerial level to outline areas of cooperation. Kagame also made a brief visit to Zambia for talks with President Frederick Chiluba, where they reiterated their commitment to the Lusaka peace accord for the DRC. There had been friction between the two countries after Rwanda refused to attend a February summit in Lusaka, accusing the Zambian authorities of “bias” by refusing to hand over Interahamwe and ex-FAR members who had fled to Zambia from the DRC. “We look forward to the full implementation of the Lusaka peace process, the withdrawal process, the dismantling and disarmament of the Interahamwe militias,” Kagame was quoted as saying in Zambia.