Man thought to be Kabuga arrested

NAIROBI - The Kenyan ambassador to Rwanda, Alex Keter, said yesterday detectives in Nairobi were conducting forensic investigations on a man suspected to be Félicien Kabuga, a key Genocide suspect. Ambassador Keter said the man arrested on Friday night is a Rwandan claims to be a lecturer at a university in Kenya. The police were yet to release a report confirming the identity of the suspect, Keter said. “We cannot at this stage tell whether the suspect is Kabuga,” the ambassador said in a telephone interview. But a source at the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi told Sunday Times that the man in custody was not Kabuga. “We have checked with the police and it’s not Kabuga,” the source said on phone from Nairobi. Early in the week, Keter had re-affirmed Kenya’s continued commitment to the pursuit of the Genocide fugitive. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has in the past insisted that Kabuga could be hiding in Kenya protected by powerful personalities. Hassan Bubacar Jallow, ICTR chief prosecutor, addressing UN Security Council Wednesday, accused Kenya of not doing enough to apprehend the suspect. “Kenya must now conduct an active search for Kabuga, who has been seen several times in the country,” Jallow told the UN Security Council meeting. “Kenya is completely committed to have Kabuga apprehended, the pursuit is on-going, he must have established a strong network that has made the efforts for arresting him futile,” Keter explained. The UN has threatened to place sanctions on Kenya if the East African country does not comply. The ICTR asked Nairobi to produce a detailed report detailing when and how the fugitive left the country as Kenya alleges. A five million dollar bounty was put on Kabuga’s head by UN for whoever provides information leading to the arrest of Kabuga. Last month the high court froze Kabuga’s bank accounts. Ends