TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2010


KLMNO THE WORLD


Celebrations begin early for Rwanda’s Kagame


President expected to win by landslide in election seen by many as tainted


by Sudarsan Raghavan


kigali, rwanda — Even before the polls had closed Monday, the supporters of Rwandan President Paul Kagame were celebrating.


Outside this capital city’s national sta- dium, several large white trucks carrying crates of beer waited. “It’s for the victory party,” declared a soldier at the gate. “The president will arrive later this eve- ning.” The night before, Kagame’s ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front had sent a text message to thousands of supporters and journalists, inviting them to the massive party on Monday evening, when Rwan- da’s electoral commission was scheduled to release preliminary results. The mes- sage promised food, drinks and music. Kagame is expected to win another


seven-year term by a landslide in only the second election since the 1994 geno- cide that killed more than 800,000 peo- ple. The elections have been tainted by accusations of political repression, mur- der and censorship, accusations that Ka- game has denied. On Monday, shortly af- ter he cast his vote at a school, the 52- year-old guerrilla leader-turned-politi- cian declared that the elections were democratic. “I see no problems, but there are some people who choose to see problems where there are not,” Kagame said. Many Rwandans interviewed Monday chose to ignore the controversies sur- rounding their president, who his critics say is nothing but another strongman on the continent. His supporters tout Ka- game’s accomplishments, such as a growing economy and more rights for women. But they said they were voting for him chiefly because of the stability he has brought to a country that was on the brink 16 years ago and is still haunted by its horrific past. Today, Rwanda is con- sidered to be among the least corrupt na- tions in Africa. “I voted for Paul Kagame because he has brought economic development and political maturity to Rwanda,” said Jane Mukamfizi, 52, an accountant. “He has a vision to lead Rwanda to further devel- opment.” None of the nearly dozen people inter-


viewed said they had voted for the oppo- sition. To be sure, Rwandans had few choices.


The government banned two opposition parties from taking part in the elections, leaving three former allies of Kagame, who support his views and were hardly credible opponents. Critics have called them “sham candidates” designed to cre- ate the veneer of democracy. Other opposition leaders have been arrested or intimidated. Last month, the deputy leader of one of the parties not permitted to take part in Monday’s elec- tions was brutally murdered, his head nearly severed from his body. An Amer- ican lawyer for a jailed opposition candi- date was also arrested and later released. raghavans@washpost.com


As results of the election begin to trickle in, people surf the Internet at a free WiFi spot at Kigali International Airport.


Rwandans, including a


woman voting in Kigali, lined up before dawn to cast their ballots. Critics said voters had no credible options to the current president.


PHOTOS BY FINBARR O’REILLY/REUTERS


As a Rwandan elections official waits for voters at a polling place, supporters of the president were busy planning what they were certain would be a victory party.


Lebanon crisis feared as key indictments near FINDINGS IN


HARIRI SLAYING


Hezbollah decries process that may implicate its members


by Janine Zacharia ROBERT A. REEDER/THE WASHINGTON POST


beirut — The United Nations set up a tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 kill- ing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri in an effort to deter future violence in Lebanon. But many in the country now fear indictments in the case could trigger a new political crisis or even sectarian bloodshed. The Lebanese Shiite political party and militia, Hezbollah, is attempting to discredit the U.N. process amid indica- tions that some of its members will be ac- cused of Hariri’s killing in the indict- ments, expected as soon as next month. Hezbollah’s leaders have pressured the


An official awaits voters in the capital. Despite allegations of censorship and murder, President Kagame said the electoral process had “no problems.”


Lebanese government to end its coopera- tion with U.N. investigators and have threatened consequences if it doesn’t. Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader, said naming Hezbollah in the in- dictments would be enough to trigger a civil war like the one from 1975 to 1990. Traditional power brokers in Lebanon, including Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have flocked to Beirut in recent weeks to try to avert a crisis. Lebanese sources said Abdullah, who was personally close to Hariri, was so concerned about Hez- bollah’s warnings that he is working to delay the release of the indictments, set- ting up a choice for the international community between stability in Lebanon and justice for Hariri. This internal struggle comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region and concerns about a possible war between Israel and Lebanon following a clash along their border last week that left two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese reporter and an Israeli military officer dead. On Monday night, Hezbollah leader


At a polling station in Kigali, an elections official presided over only the second


presidential election since 1994.


Hasan Nasrallah sought to incriminate Israel in the Hariri assassination. In an elaborate two-hour live presentation broadcast from his hiding place, Nas- rallah, in a lawyer’s style, tried to build a case showing how Israel could have been behind Hariri’s assassination. With dramatic flair, Nasrallah spliced his argument with video clips of Leba- nese spies confessing they had worked for Israel. He questioned why the tribu- nal, set up two years after the killing, had not questioned any of them. Nasrallah also showed what he claimed was intercepted Israeli surveil- lance footage from an unmanned aerial vehicle of Hariri’s travel routes. “We think that these videos were made in preparation for an operation,” Nasrallah said. He also claimed that Israeli war- planes flew over the site where Hariri’s convoy was attacked on the day of the as- sassination and that an Israeli spy was present at the Hariri crime scene. Nasrallah argued that Israel would


have been motivated to assassinate Hari- ri and blame Hezbollah for the operation because Israel aims to harm the group. He said Hezbollah did not trust the U.N. investigators and would not share its findings with them. Lebanon’s prime minister, Hariri’s 40- year-old son, Saad Hariri, now faces the painful choice of whether to continue to


DIGEST NORTH KOREA


Artillery fire is response to S. Korea


North Korea fired about 110 rounds of artillery into the sea off its west coast on Monday, the lat- est response by leaders in Pyong- yang to South Korea’s military ex- ercises. The artillery shells landed in


the North’s waters, causing no harm.


South Korea views the firing as


part of a military drill by North Korea, a South Korean Joint Chief of Staff officer told the As- sociated Press, speaking on con- dition of anonymity. He said South Korean forces are on guard for further actions by Pyongyang. The artillery fire threatens to fur- ther raise tensions along the 38th Parallel. It came shortly after South Korea concluded five days of naval drills, which the North had threatened to counter with “strong physical retaliation.” The move stands as yet another sign of the gaping divide between the North and South, which have exchanged months of threats and hard-line talk since the March sinking of the South Korean war- ship Cheonan, in which 46 South Korean sailors were killed. The North has denied responsibility for the torpedo attack; Seoul and Washington blame North Korea. —Chico Harlan


MIDDLE EAST


Mitchell returning to jump-start talks


The Obama administration’s special Middle East envoy is re- turning to the region for a visit this week in a bid to get Israel and the Palestinians to agree to direct peace talks by Sept. 1, U.S. offi- cials said Monday. The envoy, George Mitchell, will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mah- moud Abbas on Tuesday, accord- ing to the State Department. Mitchell will also probably con- sult with the leaders of neigh- boring Arab countries before re- turning to the United States on Wednesday.


—Associated Press RUSSIA


Deaths from smoke, heat rise in Moscow The acrid smoke and intense


heat enveloping Moscow have nearly doubled the death rate, a senior city health official said Monday as firefighters continued to battle against the raging peat and forest fires that have shroud- ed the city in choking smog. The comments by Andrei Selt-


sovsky, Moscow’s health depart- ment chief, were the first official


BOLIVIA AIZAR RALDES/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES


Passengers of buses stranded because of a road blockade on the Potosi-La Paz road, near Potosi, protest against the people blocking their way but mainly against the government of President Evo Morales.


confirmation of what many had feared over the weekend. Carbon monoxide levels soared to nearly seven times acceptable norms as the country continues to suffer its worst heat wave since


records began. The high tempera- tures have destroyed 30 percent of Russia’s grain crops. Seltsovsky said the number of people dying daily in the city had risen to 700, from the usual aver-


age of 360 to 380 per day. Heat- stroke was the main cause of the sharp spike in deaths. Bronchial problems, heart disease and strokes were also soaring, he said. —Financial Times


Man is first to travel length of Amazon on foot: After 859 days, Ed Stafford, a former British army captain, became the first man known to have walked the length of the Amazon River when the waves of the Atlantic Ocean lapped at his feet in northern Brazil. To relax at night, Stafford, 34, downloaded podcasts by comedi- an Ricky Gervais and episodes of “The Office” via Internet satellite phone.


—From news services THE NETHERLANDS


Farrow contradicts Campbell testimony Naomi Campbell told Mia Far-


row that she received a “huge dia- mond” from the former president of Liberia, the actress said from the witness stand Monday, con- tradicting the model’s testimony that she didn’t know the value of the gift from accused war crimi- nal Charles Taylor. The prosecution at Taylor’s war crimes trial in The Hague called Farrow, and Campbell’s former agent, to testify about uncut dia- monds that Taylor allegedly gave the model after a September 1997 party they all attended. Taylor says he is innocent of war crimes and has denied ever trading in diamonds. —Associated Press


Rafiq al-Hariri was killed by a truck bomb a few months after he stepped down as prime minister of Lebanon.


try to find out who killed his father or to acquiesce to Hezbollah in order to main- tain Lebanese unity and stability, many observers said. “He is in a tough spot,” said a person close to Hariri, speaking on the condi- tion of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity. “But he is still committed to the tribunal. He doesn’t believe Hez- bollah will be able to stop it. . . . He will not allow a civil war.” Hariri, in a July 24 address to support- ers, said his father’s “blessed soul will not be a reason to renew civil strife in Leba- non.” But he has not said how he will ac- complish that. During recent past chal- lenges, Hariri has proved incapable of withstanding pressure from Hezbollah. Two years ago, when the government tried to shut down Hezbollah’s vast tele- communications network, Hezbollah mi- litiamen took over Beirut within 24 hours, embarrassing the Lebanese army and demonstrating Hezbollah’s ability to overpower Hariri and his pro-democracy supporters at will. In response, Hariri agreed to give Hez- bollah, considered a terrorist group by the United States and Israel, and its allies enough cabinet seats to block any major decision. Hezbollah now controls several major posts, including the foreign min- istry. The Hariri family has to “think very,


very carefully about their next move be- cause, frankly, nobody is interested in scuttling peace in Lebanon and whatever internal tranquillity we have right now in order to bring about a confrontation over the tribunal,” said Habib Malik, a professor of history at Lebanese Amer- ican University.


Still, pressure remains to know who killed Rafiq al-Hariri. The Sunni Muslim was not only a popular political leader among his own religious faction but a rare Lebanese politician who was able to cross sharp sectarian divides in a coun- try that remains a fragile patchwork of Sunnis, Shiites and Christians. A wealthy businessman, he was also a major investor in Lebanon’s economy and infrastructure, and his legacy looms large in Beirut’s reconstruction. On billboards across Beirut, Hariri’s face appears alongside the phrase “Truth for Lebanon.” Five years after his assassi- nation by a truck bomb, Hariri’s coffin — and those of several people killed with him — lies beneath a white tent in a shrine to his memory in the center of Bei- rut. It still draws a parade of visitors. “It would be so difficult for the Leba- nese public to forget or to forgive the as- sassination of Rafiq Hariri,” said Mo- hamed Choucair, a Lebanese business- man who is president of the Beirut Chamber of Commerce. “The man was not only behind the reconstruction of Lebanon. He made Lebanon into a major economic power in the Middle East.” zachariaj@washpost.com


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