Rwanda aide questioned in France

A senior Rwandan presidential aide has been placed under formal investigation in Paris over the killing of a former Rwandan president.

Rose Kabuye was extradited to France from Germany. She was detained in Frankfurt last week.

She is one of nine officials accused of involvement in the shooting down of Juvenal Habyarimana's plane in 1994, which helped trigger Rwanda's genocide.

She has denied any involvement and her arrest has led to protests in Rwanda.

Ms Kabuye is a popular figure in Rwanda and, on Wednesday, thousands of people turned out for what appeared to be highly organised demonstrations against her extradition in Rwanda's capital, Kigali.

"People of Rwanda have come together once again to appeal to the international community to join us in denouncing this political manipulation of international justice by certain Western countries," said one protester.

French officials took charge of Ms Kabuye in Frankfurt, and she was flown to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris aboard an Air France jet.

From there she was transferred to the main law courts in Paris to appear before anti-terrorist judge Marc Trevidic, Ms Kabuye's lawyer Bernard Maingain told the AFP news agency.

Judicial officials confirmed she had been put under judicial investigation - in effect, charged - with "complicity in murder in relation to terrorism".

'Illegal and flawed'

Correspondents say Ms Kabuye, a former guerrilla fighter with the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), now Rwanda's ruling party, has heroic status in Rwanda.
People demonstrate in support of Rose Kabuye, in Kigali, Rwanda (19/11/2008)
Correspondents said the Kigali protests did not appear spontaneous

She has served as an MP and mayor of Kigali, and is one of President Paul Kagame's closest aides.

Mr Kagame has condemned the arrest, claiming Ms Kabuye held diplomatic immunity.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Rosemary Museminali has described the arrest of Ms Kabuye as "illegal and flawed".

She told the BBC on Monday that the arrest had been "based on politically motivated information".

The plane carrying President Habyarimana, a Hutu, was shot down on 6 April 1994, as Mr Kagame's Tutsi rebels were advancing on Kigali.

The two French pilots and the president of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, were also killed.

The Hutu extremist government accused the RPF of the assassination. Within hours, militias set up roadblocks and started to systematically murder any Tutsis or moderate Hutus they could find.

The RPF has always accused the Hutu extremists of shooting down the plane, to provide a pretext for carrying out their genocidal plans.

Some 800,000 people were slaughtered in just 100 days before Mr Kagame's forces ousted the Hutu government.