RWANDA: 2006 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM

UNCLAS KIGALI 001175 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO S/CT (RHONDA SHORE) AND NCTC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM RW SUBJECT: RWANDA: 2006 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM REF: STATE 175925 ¶1. (U) Below is Embassy Kigali's submission of the 2006 Country Report on Terrorism. ¶2. (SBU) The Rwandan Government made efforts to combat terrorism financing and continued to increase its border control measures to identify potential terrorists. Rwanda has an intergovernmental counterterrorism committee and a counterterrorism reaction team in the police intelligence unit. Central Bank and Ministry of Finance officials continued to provide outstanding cooperation on terrorist financing issues. While the Government of Rwanda (GOR) has not yet fully developed its laws and regulations in accordance with international anti-terrorism conventions, it has the authority under local law to identify, freeze and seize terrorist-related financial assets. Rwanda participated in regional initiatives on international counterterrorism cooperation, including active participation in the East African Stand-by Brigade. In September, it hosted the Third Regional Counter-Terrorism Conference for Chiefs of Security and Intelligence Services in Kigali, and it assumed the Chairmanship of the organization. In October, Police Commissioner General Andrew Rwigamba was appointed as the World Regional Chair for sub-Saharan Africa for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). ¶3. (SBU) The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR, known as the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda, ALIR, until 2001) -- an armed ;rebel force, including former soldiers and supporters of the previous government that orchestrated the 1994 genocide -- continued to operate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rwanda pressed for international action to pursue the FDLR. An ALIR unit was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of nine persons, including two US tourists, in Bwindi Park in 1999. The Rwandan Government assisted US law enforcement officials attempting to prosecute three suspects in the attack who were transferred to the United States in 2003. The Rwandan Government provided original documents requested by the US Justice Department and allowed nine Rwandan officials to travel to the United States. ARIETTI