'My best friends were Tutsis'

2005-11-14 12:13

Arusha - A man who served as Rwanda's interior minister during the slaughter of more than half a million people in 1994 pleaded not guilty on Monday to three counts of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Calixte Kalimanzira - who surrendered on Tuesday to the UN tribunal for the alleged masterminds of the 100-day genocide - denied charges that he directly participated in the slaughter that was orchestrated by the then-extremist government from the Hutu ethnic majority.

The massacre was led by members of Rwanda's former army and extremist Hutu militias, known as the Interahamwe. The victims were members of the Tutsi minority and politically moderate Hutus. The killings ended when Tutsi-led rebels, under President Paul Kagame, ousted the extremist government in July 1994.

"I am deeply sorry for the killings in Rwanda," Kalimanzira, 52, told Presiding Judge Asoka de Silva of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He then observed a minute's silence before pleading not guilty to every count read out to him by the judge.

Prosecutors claim that Kalimanzira directly participated in the killings of hundreds of Tutsis who fled their homes in Butare Province, in southern Rwanda.

Prosecutors also allege that as interior minister Kalimanzira supervised and trained the Interahamwe. He also incited the genocide in remarks he made at public meetings, according to prosecutors.

Kalimanzira, however, told the court that he never held a weapon in his hand, adding: "My best friends were Tutsis, who sponsored my education."

The surrender of Kalimanzira brings to 72 the number of suspects detained by the tribunal. It has convicted 19 people and acquitted three. Trials for 25 others are under way.

- AP