{UAH} Rwandan hitmen ‘nabbed’

Abram Mashego

Three Rwandan nationals have reportedly been arrested at a hotel in the Mozambican capital Maputo for the murder of former Rwandan intelligence head Patrick Karegeya.

The suspects, who allegedly include Rwandan Lt-Col Francis Gakwerere, were arrested after Rwandan exiles alerted local police about their presence in the country.

The suspects are accused of being members of a Rwandan hit squad that targeted opposition party leaders in the strife-torn country.

It is understood that the suspects, who were six in total, had arrived in Mozambique during the Christmas week prior to the murder of Karegeya, which occurred on the eve of December 31 at a posh hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg.

According to Chad Thomas, an independent private investigator at IRS investigations, Gakwerere was taken into custody for questioning along with two other men of Rwandan origin.

"Gakwerere was also a prime suspect in the failed hit on Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa in 2010 but there was insufficient evidence to allow the charges to stick," Thomas said yesterday.

A close family friend of the Karegeyas, Gabriel Hertis, told The New Age that they were yesterday informed that three people were arrested and three others remained on the run.

Hertis said Apollo Kiririsi, who was last seen with the deceased prior to the discovery of his body, had now been seen in Rwanda and denied any involvement in the murder of the former spy chief.

Karegeya's nephew, David Batenga, said that Kiririsi, had pretended to be an opposition sympathiser prior to the discovery of Karegeya's body at the Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton last Wednesday.

He said on December 29, Kiririsi told Karegeya that he was coming to South Africa and asked to be booked into a hotel.

Batenga and the deceased picked him up at a Gautrain station and went to the hotel.

On the day of the killing, the trio spent time together and at about lunchtime Batenga left.

"Just after 8pm on Tuesday I called my uncle on his phones but they were switched off.

"The following morning we called again but there was still no response and we then alerted the police," Batenga told The New Age.

He said Kiririsi had claimed to be an enemy of the Rwandan state and that he was being harassed by the government.

Karegeya, 53, had been in exile in South Africa since 2007 after his relationship with Rwandan President Paul Kagame soured.

Hawks spokesperson Paul Ramaloko could not confirm the arrest of the suspects.

Meanwhile, the Rwandan government has denied any links to the murder.

abramm@thenewage.co.za

http://www.thenewage.co.za/115734-1007-53-Rwandan_hitmen__nabbed

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