Rwanda asked the German ambassador to leave Kigali this evening in a growing row over Germany's arrest of a senior aide to President Paul Kagame.
Rose Kabuye, director general of state protocol in Rwanda, was arrested at Frankfurt airport on Sunday by German police acting on an international warrant issued by France in 2006 for her and eight other Kagame associates.
"We've asked the German ambassador to leave until this matter is resolved," Rwandan Foreign Minister Rosemary Museminali said adding that Rwanda had also recalled its ambassador to Berlin
for consultations.
"We have not broken ties with Germany at all," she said. "It's not a permanent move."
Ms Kabuye is accused of involvement in the 1994 shooting down of a plane that killed former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, leading to a campaign of genocidal killings in the central African nation, German prosecutors have said.
She was in Frankfurt to prepare a visit by Kagame, who is touring European countries.
Asked at a news conference whether the arrest could have an impact on cooperation between Rwanda and the European Union on resolving the crisis in Congo, Mr Kagame said: "Certainly the arrest of Rose has some implications, foreseen or unforeseen, because in many ways it's a violation of the sovereignty of Rwanda."
Mr Kagame said the arrest would affect his country's relationship with France and Germany.
"We will see how we can challenge such actions, which in my view are simply a question of being arrogant and people being a law unto themselves," he said after visiting Kabuye in prison.
