The Belgian Chief of Defence Forces General August van Daele has said that talks between the Rwandan and Belgian military are underway to extend their cooperation to the field of engineering. Gen Daele disclosed this yesterday shortly after meeting President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro.

"Currently, the cooperation between our armed forces is on education basis. We have been enrolling Rwandan students to the Royal Military Academy but we are talking of expanding this cooperation to especially the field of engineering,” Daele said.

He said that the talks are going on between him and his Rwandan counterpart, General James Kabarebe. That is partly the reason he is in the country, he explained.

The Belgian army chief is in the country since Wednesday on the invitation of Gen. Kabarebe.

Meanwhile the out-going Dutch Ambassador to Rwanda, Peter Schonherr, paid a courtesy call on the President yesterday to bid farewell after completing his two-year term of service.

"It is so sad that I have left this country at a time when a lot of initiatives that have been initiated to which I would have liked to stay and witness their fruits, but I have been recalled,” Schonherr said after his meeting with the President.

He praised Rwandans, both the leadership and the population for their being motivated and ambition-driven, a fact he said would take the country further in a few coming years.
 

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