RWANDA: Update : US Embassy Disowns Wikileaks

The United States Embassy in Kigali has denied the latest confidential US documents released by Wikileaks, a Swedish website which accused the diplomatic mission of gathering information on Rwanda’s military as well as spying on its top leaders. The diplomatic cables leaks say that the US state department reportedly ordered its Embassy in Kigali to collect high-level, classified and secret information on Rwanda’s military installations and weaponry as well as spy on its top leaders including samples of their fingerprints, facial images, DNA, their phone numbers, e-mail accounts and so on. On its part, the Rwandan government through the Foreign Affairs Ministry told Contact FM that it is still studying these confidential documents and will soon comment after careful analysis. However, in an exclusive interview with Contact FM, Edwina Sagitto, the US Embassy’s Public Affairs Officer who is also the Embassy’s spokesperson said that their basic function is to report on developments in Rwanda. The Rwandan government says it is still studying confidential US documents leaked by a Swedish website, Wikileaks and will soon comment after careful analysis.  The damaging cable leaks contain exchanges of sensitive information between US diplomats abroad and foreign diplomats around the world where they describe their perceptions of foreign governments and their leaders.  Rwanda is one of US strongest allies on the African continent and the latest leaks which include reports on other countries in the great lakes region won’t help efforts to restore peace and stability in the region where the US has been a strong partner. Source: Contact FM, 30/10/2010