Ban Ki-moon in the country

KIGALI - THE United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, arrived in the country yesterday on an impromptu visit aimed at discussing with the Rwandan government the controversial leaked draft UN report alleging that Rwandan troops could have committed human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The report titled “Democratic Republic of the Congo Human Rights Mapping” compiled by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, has been dismissed by Rwanda as “malicious and threatened to withdraw its peacekeeping troops from Sudan. According to th Government Spokesperson and Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo, Ki-moon is expected to hold talks this morning with President Paul Kagame over the report which has also been condemned by both the DRC and Uganda. “The Secretary General decided to visit Kigali to speak directly with the Rwandan President and other government officials about their concern regarding the Democratic Republic of the Congo Human Rights mapping report compiled by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.” Mushikiwabo said in statement to the media. The UN Chief was accompanied by Roger Meece, the UN Special Representative for DR Congo, Alain Le Roy, the UN Under-Secretary General for peacekeeping operations as well as Ivan Simonovic, the Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights. The UN last week delayed publication of the report which was supposed to be published on September 2 to October 1 to give Rwanda and the other nations mentioned in the report more time to submit their views. Last week, the Government of Rwanda announced that it was ready to withdraw over 3,500 troops serving under the UNAMID/UNAMIS peacekeeping missions in Sudan, with Mushikiwabo arguing that an army that is preventing a possible Genocide in Darfur cannot be accused of doing the same somewhere else. Ends

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Ban Ki-moon in the country