Zimbabwe in pledge to Rwanda over genocide suspect

HARARE, Sunday

Zimbabwe has pledged to assist Rwanda locate one of the most wanted genocide suspects believed to be hiding in the southern African country.

Rwandan authorities say Mr Potrais Mpiranya, the former commander of the presidential guard during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis has businesses in Harare.

He is being pursued by the Belgian authorities and is also on the list of 13 most wanted persons by the Arusha based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

There is also a US$5 million bounty for Mr Mpiranya placed by the United States’s Rewards for Justice Programme.

Reportedly running

Mr Mpiranya is reportedly running businesses in the Zimbabwean capital and assisting President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party to train its militia.

However, co-Home Affairs Minister Mr Giles Mutsekwa of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said if it was true that Mr Mpiranya was hiding in Zimbabwe, he would be brought to book.

He said Rwandan agents have already met with their Zimbabwean counterparts where they made a formal request to help in the case.

“We are ready to assist as long as our Rwandan colleagues provide security agents from their country who will work hand in hand with our police in order to identify and arrest the suspect if he is in Zimbabwe,” Mr Mutsekwa told a Zimbabwean radio station.

The Zimbabwean media has speculated that Mr Mpiranya is being shielded by President Mugabe’s close associates.