RWANDAN DEFENSE FORCES TO CHANGE COMMANDER OF THE

UNCLAS KIGALI 000379 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C, DRL/PHD, PM/RSAT AND L/PM E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM MARR MASS RW SUBJECT: RWANDAN DEFENSE FORCES TO CHANGE COMMANDER OF THE 14TH BATTALION REF: A. KIGALI 36 ¶B. KIGALI 373 ¶1. (SBU) On 20 April, the Rwandan Ministry of Defense notified post that the new Battalion Commander for the 14th Battalion will be Major James Safari. The change was made in order to comply with USG's notification (ref B) that no U.S. support could be provided to the 14th if LtCol Goodman Ruzibiza remained in command. A senior Rwandan officer told acting DATT that Major Safari, currently the Battalion Executive Officer, will be promoted to LtCol and take command of the 14th prior to its deployment to Darfur in May. Post has discovered no derogatory human rights information on Safari and he was previously vetted as a staff officer of the 14th Battalion (Ref A). ¶2. (SBU) Comment. This is a smart decision by the GOR, as the second in command of the 14th, Safari knows the Battalion and is very familiar with the officers and soldiers he will be commanding. Additionally, due to the absence of LtCol Ruzibiza, he was the acting Battalion Commander during the recently completed ACOTA training. End comment. ¶3. (SBU) Bio information on Safari: Name: Safari First Name: James Rank: Major Appointment: CO DOB: 1969 DOE 1987 (Enlistment date) Marital status: Single Education Standard: S4 Date of Commissioning: 1991 Appointments Held: 1987-1993: Regiment Signals Officer 1994-1995: Platoon Commander 1996-2000: Company Commander 2001-2004: Operations Training Officer 2005-2007: 2nd in Command, 14BN -2007: CO, 14BN Courses: Military Communication Company Command Grade 3 Staff Course Peace Support OPS (ACOTA, BPSTT) Seminars: Law Children's Rights International Humanitarian Law ARIETTI