Kagame, Kikwete hold talks

Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Kikwete yesterday held closed door talks in Kampala, Uganda.

Friday, September 06, 2013
Presidents Kagame and Kikwete during the bilateral talks at the Commonwealth Munyoyo Resort in Kampala yesterday. The New Times/ Village Urugwiro.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Kikwete yesterday held closed door talks in Kampala, Uganda.The two leaders met on the sidelines of the seventh extraordinary summit of the Heads of State and Government of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) on the DRC crisis.Their meeting followed months of brewing tension between Rwanda and Tanzania after the suggestion by Kikwete that Kigali hold talks with the FDLR militia, which is responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.Yolande Makolo, communications director, Office of the President, described the meeting as "productive”."President Kagame and President Kikwete had a productive meeting today and are both pleased to be moving forward positively,” she wrote on Twitter.There were no further details from the two presidents’ private meeting but officials appeared upbeat about the outcome.‎The meeting came just a few days after Tanzanian officials were quoted in the media as saying that Dar es Salaam had requested Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to help mediate between Presidents Kagame and Kikwete.President Museveni is also the chairperson of ICGLR.