Wed Aug 4, 8:02 am ET
KIGALI (AFP) – Rwandan President Paul Kagame warned he will crush any attempt to destabilise his regime, as he ramped up his re-election campaign ahead of August 9 polls.
"All those who want war, we'll give them war and they will regret it," Kagame said at a campaign meeting late Tuesday in Kicukiro district, outside the capital Kigali.
His remarks appeared directed at Patrick Karegeya, a former intelligence chief, who fled into exile three years ago and this week called for an uprising against Kagame, who has ruled Rwanda since 1994.
"There is no one who will come to save Rwandans from the dictatorship of Kagame and there is no time to fold hands. They should stand up to him and say look, we are tired, you have to go," Karegeya told Uganda's Observer, an independent bi-weekly newspaper.
"Obviously some will lose their lives in the process but those who will die will have lost life for a worthy cause, and I am prepared to support Rwandans who want to fight the dictatorship of Paul Kagame," he added.
Several senior army officers have been arrested in recent months and one general, Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, narrowly survived an assassination attempt in June in South Africa, where he had joined Karegeya.
Kagame is running in next week's presidential polls against three candidates who are close to his regime. Other key opponents have seen their parties barred from official registration.
Opponents and rights have criticised Kagame for tightening the noose on any dissident voices ahead of the election but the authorities have dismissed the accusations as unfounded and the result of a smear campaign.
In an earlier rally, Kagame had told critics of his regime that they could "go hang".
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