Government denies busting UNITA sanctions

The government on Sunday categorically denied media reports that it had violated UN sanctions against the Angolan UNITA rebel movement by allowing its leaders into the country to arrange diamond sales and arms deals. A leaked report commissioned by the UN Security Council accuses Rwandan Vice-President Paul Kagame of allowing the rebels “to operate more or less freely” in purchasing diamonds and meeting weapons brokers in the Rwandan capital Kigali, the BBC reported. Officials in DRC, Republic of Congo, Gabon and South Africa, as well as the governments of Togo and Burkina Faso, are also accused of breaking the sanctions.

Rwanda denied the allegations and reserved “the right to address them squarely when the report is officially presented to the Security Council”, a government press release stated. The statement said Rwanda had always respected the sanctions and continued to do so, and concluded that the media were trying to tarnish the government, Radio Rwanda added. The Angola Sanctions Committee of the Security Council, chaired by Canadian ambassador to the UN Robert Fowler, is due to present the report on Wednesday.