The Rwandan Cabinet has approved the provisional release of 36 000 prisoners, including thousands suspected of taking part in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, as part of efforts to reduce the strain on its prison system, officials said. Rwandan prison authorities will start releasing the prisoners on Friday.
Cabinet ministers from 11 African countries gathered in Rwanda on Thursday to flesh out details of a deal intended to end a cycle of wars, rebellions, dictatorships and poverty in central Africa’s Great Lakes region. Officials are expected to spell out how they would implement a regional pact on security, stability and development.
Dozens of additional Rwandan troops left for Sudan’s troubled Darfur region on Monday to reinforce a tiny, but growing, African force widely seen as the main hope to stabilising the area, a defense spokesperson said. About 58 new troops are to join 165 others who arrived in Darfur over the weekend aboard United States air-force planes.
