Highlights: World leaders are arriving in numbers to commemorate alongside President Paul Kagame this 30th anniversary of the genocide. The African continent is widely represented since at least seven heads of state and government have already arrived. Former US President Bill Clinton, in office in 1994, will head the US delegation. No delegation is expected from Kinshasa, due to the very tense context with Kigali linked to the crisis in eastern DRC. The French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné met his Rwandan counterpart Vincent Biruta this Saturday evening.

Kigali is busy with the final preparations before the ceremony tomorrow marking the start, on April 6, of the commemorations of the 30th anniversary of the genocide.

Anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda: many heads of state at the meeting of history

Kigali is busy with the final preparations before the ceremony tomorrow marking the start, on April 6, of the commemorations of the 30th anniversary of the genocide.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame (l) and first lady Jeannette Kagame (r) light the flame at the Gisozi Genocide Memorial, in Kigali, Rwanda, April 7, 2022. AFP - SIMON WOHLFAHRT

By: RFI Follow

With our correspondent in Kigali,

Lucie Mouillaud

World leaders are arriving in numbers to commemorate alongside President Paul Kagame this 30th anniversary of the genocide. The African continent is widely represented since at least seven heads of state and government have already arrived. Among them, the Congolese Denis Sassou-Nguesso and the South African Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as representatives of regional institutions, the Mauritanian head of state Mohamed ould Ghazouani for the African Union and the South Sudanese Salvaa Kiir for the Community of 'East Africa. However, no delegation is expected from Kinshasa, due to the very tense context with Kigali linked to the crisis in eastern DRC.

Outside the continent, former US President Bill Clinton, in office in 1994, will head the US delegation. His administration had for a long time refused to use the term “genocide”. Visiting Kigali, four years after the events in 1998, he expressed his regrets about the blindness of the international community.

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Two days after

the Élysée declared

that France and its allies could have “

stopped the genocide

” but “did not

have the will

”, Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné met his Rwandan counterpart Vincent Biruta this Saturday evening. In a short statement, the head of French diplomacy affirmed alongside him “

want to demonstrate the trust and friendship rediscovered between the two countries

”. “

Reconciliation is a long journey that requires deep and sincere introspection and requires words about our responsibilities

,” he said.

After their meeting, the ministers signed two bilateral agreements: one on air services between the two countries and the other a declaration of commitment of 400 million euros for Rwanda over the next five years dedicated to the air transport sector. health, training and the environment.

Also read Genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda: towards an apology from France, or even legal proceedings?

Anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda: many heads of state at the meeting of history

Anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda: many heads of state at the meeting of history

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