Rwanda Assails Sanctions by U.S.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/05/world/africa/rwanda-assails-sanctions-by-us.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

Rwanda Assails Sanctions by U.S.

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Published: October 4, 2013

KIGALI, Rwanda — President Paul Kagame of Rwanda on Friday angrily condemned a decision by the United States to impose sanctions against his country for what Washington says is his government's support for rebels in theDemocratic Republic of Congo who recruit child soldiers.

Mr. Kagame said the American decision would only play into the hands of other rebels, remnants of Hutu extremists who carried out the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

"It benefits those enemies of our country who seek to destroy what we are trying to build," Mr. Kagame said in a speech to Parliament.

The United Nations accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 rebel group in neighboring Congo, a charge Mr. Kagame has adamantly denied.

On Thursday, Washington said it was invoking the 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act to end American financial and military assistance to Rwanda.

Mr. Kagame's government, dominated by Tutsis, is accused of backing the M23 rebels as part of a proxy war against Hutu rebels in Congo and to seek influence in the country's mineral-rich eastern Kivu region.

A version of this article appears in print on October 5, 2013, on pageA7 of the New York edition with the headline: Rwanda Assails Sanctions by U.S..