Rwandan minister reassures foreign envoys on security

Rwandan Foreign Minister Anastase Gasana told foreign envoys on Tuesday that their security in Rwanda was assured and recent killings were the actions of "a few incorrigible elements" .

"The Rwandan government wishes to be clear and reassuring - both to Rwandans and to the international community which you are representing here - the government wishes to reassure you that, in terms of security, the national territory is safe and sound," Gasana told a meeting of envoys accredited in Kigali.

His address was broadcast by Rwandan radio.

"National sovereignty is in no way challenged.

Our borders are secure, and no external threat at all is directed at Rwanda ." The government provided "a security guarantee for all - Rwandans and expatriates" , he said.

"The cases of insecurity - most seriously the killings which occurred in some communes in Ruhengeri and Gisenyi prefectures (northwestern Rwanda) - are the acts of a few incorrigible elements rooted in the hideous philosophy of the 1994 genocide" .

Such acts deserved condemnation, Gasana said.

"Just as the international community condemns terrorism everywhere in the world, it should also do the same here ... This handful of incorrigible elements deserve only your condemnation, the international community's condemnation.

"Otherwise, our silence could be interpreted as ... perhaps a recognition or legitimization" , Gasana said.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.