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PARIS, March 11 (AFP) - The French foreign ministry summoned the Rwandan ambassador for explanations Thursday after an international team detailed major violations of human rights in Rwanda, ministry spokesman Daniel Bernard said.
Bernard stressed, however, that unlike the former colonial power Belgium, France had no intention of reviewing its cooperation policy with Rwanda after the report on massacres and mass graves by the International Human Rights Federation (FIDH).
"That is not something we are considering," Bernard said, adding that violations had been committed by both sides in a civil war in the highland nation in central Africa, the government drawn from the Hutu majority and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front made up largely of Tutsi former exiles.
France massively stepped up its military presence in Rwanda after the FPR launched a major new offensive on February 8, but Bernard recalled that French troops were to be progressively withdrawn and replaced by an international force under a ceasefire accord signed in Tanzania last Sunday.
The "constant concern" was to guarantee the safety of expatriates, particularly French people, Bernard said. The FPR has accused the French of directly assisting government troops, while Uganda has been accused of helping the rebels.
mj/nb/bb AFP AFP SEQN-0264
