France Wants Better Relations With Rwanda, Sarkozy Says
Nicolas Sarkozy flew to Rwanda on Thursday for a brief visit — the first by a French president since the 1994 genocide here, seeking to improve the fraught relations between the countries.
“We want to turn the page,” Mr. Sarkozy said during a three-hour stay, during which he met with the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame.
Mr. Kagame also acknowledged that “Rwanda and France have had a difficult past. We’re here today to found a new partnership.”...
France once held enormous sway in Rwanda, a French-speaking former Belgian colony. But Mr. Kagame’s government has long accused the French of providing training and arms to the Hutu militias and former government troops who led the genocide, in which more than 800,000 Rwandans, mainly Tutsi, were killed....
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“We want to turn the page,” Mr. Sarkozy said during a three-hour stay, during which he met with the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame.
Mr. Kagame also acknowledged that “Rwanda and France have had a difficult past. We’re here today to found a new partnership.”...
France once held enormous sway in Rwanda, a French-speaking former Belgian colony. But Mr. Kagame’s government has long accused the French of providing training and arms to the Hutu militias and former government troops who led the genocide, in which more than 800,000 Rwandans, mainly Tutsi, were killed....