French foreign minister Hubert Verdrine was due in Kigali, Rwanda on Monday for what news organisations say is an attempt to normalise bilateral relations between the two countries after the 1994 genocide. According to the BBC, France gave critical backing to the former Rwandan regime of the late Juvenal Habyarimana before and during the genocide. France has also been accused of helping those suspected of atrocities to escape the country under an initiative - ostensibly humanitarian - known as Operation Turquoise. Vedrine will be the first French foreign minister to make an official visit to Rwanda since 1978. BBC said that he would be spending a few hours in Kigali, during a four-day regional tour to promote the DRC peace process.
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