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Detained Rwandan intelligence chief released on bail in UK

Xinhua, June 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Rwanda's intelligence chief Karenzi Karake, who was detained earlier in UK following an international arrest warrant issued by Spain, has been released on bail of 1.6 million U.S. dollars on condition that he remains on the UK soil until the next hearing of his trial scheduled on Oct. 29, a judicial source said Thursday in Kigali.

Karake was arrested by UK's Metropolitan Police on June 20 after the British government learnt that the Spanish authorities were "reheating" an arrest warrant for him first issued in 2008 over alleged war crimes.

"We are aware Lieutenant-General Karake has been released on bail in UK. We remain in regular contact with the Rwandan embassy in UK which is doing a follow-up on this matter," an official statement issued in Kigali said.

It is reported that Karake will stay at the Rwandan Embassy in London waiting for the British Court to rule on his extradition request to Spain.

Meanwhile, rallies were organized across all 30 districts of the tiny East African country. On Thursday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered for a second day outside the British High Commission in Rwanda, located at the suburb of Kigali, chanting slogans denouncing UK's "contempt" and holding banners demanding the release of the "Rwandan hero".

British officials took Karake into custody over an arrest warrant issued by a Spanish judge.

According to a statement issued earlier by the British High Commission in Kigali, this was a "legal obligation, following the issue of a valid European arrest warrant."

In response, Rwandan foreign affairs minister questioned the credibility of pseudo-indictment issued by the Spanish judge and stressed that "from where Africa stands, Europe is not a model of fairness," and added that "Western solidarity in demeaning Africans is unacceptable." Endite