James Kabarebe

General James Kabarebe (also known as James Kabare and James Kabarehe) is a former Rwandan Patriotic Army Commander and Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo strategist, and is currently the Chief of General Staff of the Rwandan Defence Forces.

Rwandan Patriotic Army

Colonel James Kabarebe was the private Secretary and aide-de-camp (ADC) of Major-General Paul Kagame. He became Commander of the High Command Unit at Mulindi. Later, this unit became the Republican Guard under Kagame's leadership.

First Congo War

During the First Congo War, Kabarebe was the Rwanda-appointed chief military strategist in Laurent-Désiré Kabila's rebel Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (ADFL), and he helped engineer the capture of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 17, 1997.

Although he claimed at the time to be a Congolese Tutsi, originating from North Kivu, he is a Rwandan citizen, as confirmed by his later appointment as Chief of General Staff of the Rwandan Defence Forces.

Kabarebe's appointed appointment as army chief of staff by Kabila in 1997 reinforced the belief among Congolese people that Kabila's government was a pawn of foreign powers. Consequently, he was dismissed in July 1998 and replaced by General Célestin Kifwa, who had previously served in the Angola army. This is thought to have precipitated the start of the Second Congo War. For a few days after his dismissal, Kabarebe remained as an official military advisor.

Rwandan Defence Forces

In October 2002, President Paul Kagame appointed James Kabarebe to the position of Chief of General Staff of the recently formed Rwandan Defence Forces (formerly Rwandan Patriotic Army.

ee also

*Rwandan Defence Forces
*Rwandan Patriotic Army
*First Congo War
*Second Congo War

External links

* [http://www.africaaction.org/docs98/con9809b.htm AfricaAction.org lists the key members of the 1998 rebellion] , including Kabare.
* [http://mondediplo.com/1999/10/08congo Tanzania Daily Mail] says that Kabare had a share in mining companies among other business ventures, as well as being a major in 1999.
* [http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v4/v4i1a2.htm#Ref20 Aftican Studies Quarterly] gives the exact dates of Kabare's appointment in the ADFL, and says his name is sometimes spelled: Kabarehe ("Kabare" is a Congolese place name.)
* [http://csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/durableRedirect.pl?/durable/1999/03/25/fp6s1-csm.shtml Christian Science Monitor] on the imposition of the Tutsi, Kabare, on Kabila.