THE Tanaiste, Mr Spring, has said that the problems of Rwanda and Burundi are "a major priority" of the Irish EU presidency.
However, Mr Spring said there would need to be proper consideration before the EU responded to yesterday's decision by African leaders to impose economic sanctions on Burundi.
Mr Spring was speaking after meeting the Vice President of Rwanda, Maj Gen Paul Kagame, who is visiting Dublin. Gen Kagame, a key figure in the Rwandan government because of his role as Minister of Defence and army commander in chief, led the military struggle against the former government which was perpetrating genocide against the country's Tutsi minority.
Earlier, Gen Kagame told the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee that the "bottom line" for any international or regional initiative to deal with the situation in neighbouring Burundi was that no individual faction should be allowed to gain control.
He said that the situation in Burundi before last week's military coup had been no better than it was now. The people responsible for the killing of the democratically elected president two years ago had not been brought to justice, just as those leaders and factions in the Burundi government responsible, for many other killings had not been made accountable.
He urged the people of Burundi to "proceed on the basis of the initiative spearheaded by the former President Nyerere" of Tanzania.
Turning to his own country, Gen Kagame said there was a continuing problem with returning refugees containing among their number "fugitives, people responsible for genocide who continue to manipulate the refugees and hide behind them".
The Rwandan government had stressed "time and again" to the international community and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees the need to separate these two groups, he said.
He admitted that there had been a problem of revenge killings after his government had taken over following the 1994 genocide, in which up to one million Rwandans died. Now anti revenge measures had been put in place and people were being told "to wait until an effective justice system is in place".