Bush to honour genocide victims
2008-02-19 11:56
Kigali - United States President George W Bush's upbeat tour of Africa shifted on Tuesday to the capital city of Rwanda, still haunted by memories of one of the most grisly slaughters in modern times.
Bush and first lady Laura Bush arrived in the tiny central African country, site of the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi minority and politically moderate Hutus. Over 100 days, roughly 800 000 people were shot, clubbed and hacked to death.
The country had since stabilised under President Paul Kagame, whose rebel force toppled the Hutu extremists and ended the genocide.
Bush saw Kagame as an ally and man of action, although the Rwandan leader was accused by critics of authoritarian ways. Bush planned to visit a genocide memorial, where more than 250 000 people were buried.
At an arrival ceremony at Kigali International Airport, a boy and girl dressed in formal white clothes gave bright flowers to Laura Bush.
The two presidents walked down a red carpet and stood on a platform as a military band played the US nation anthem. They then watched as African dancers performed on the tarmac.
On Air Force One en route from Tanzania, White House press secretary Dana Perino said that in Rwanda, Bush would announce the availability of $100m to train and provide equipment for African peacekeepers being deployed to Darfur.
The money would be available to several nations, and Rwanda's share would be $12m for 2 400 peacekeepers and equipment, she said.
- AP