Burundian diplomat expelled

Rwanda on 20 April expelled a Burundian diplomat, Dieudonne Habarugira, who had been serving in Kigali as the first secretary in his country’s embassy since 1997. Rwandan Foreign Minister Andre Bumaya told IRIN on Tuesday that the diplomat was given 24 hours to leave the country for “dealing in activities incompatible with his diplomatic status”. News organisations reported that Habarugira was informed on 20 April that he had been declared persona non grata and had 24 hours to leave the country. Rwanda News Agency (RNA) quoted Rwandan officials as saying that Habarugira had issued a Burundi entry visa to “a person considered a negativist” at the end of March this year. “We obliged as an embassy. We sought clarification from the Rwandan authorities, who went ahead to expel our diplomat,” it quoted Burundian Ambassador in Kigali, Antoine Baza, as saying on Monday. The expulsion came barely a week after Burundi’s President Pierre Buyoya visited his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to discuss security problems in the region.