Kigali, Rwanda
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan apologized this week for not preventing the genocide in Rwanda 10 years ago. Annan was head of U.N. peacekeeping in 1994 but could not persuade the Security Council to send extra troops while Hutu militias systematically slaughtered 800,000 Tutsis. “I believed that I was doing my best,” said Annan. “But I realized after the genocide that there was more that I could and should have done to sound the alarm and rally support.” Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire, who headed the small force in the country, pleaded for help during the 13 weeks of killing, to no avail. “I’m sure there would have been more reaction if someone had tried to exterminate Rwanda’s 300 mountain gorillas,” Dallaire said.
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