New York Times
May 5, 1998
General Kofi Annan today denied accusations that he was among those at UN Nations headquarters who were warned in were warned in 1994 that a campaign of genocide was coming in Rwanda and did nothing. "It's an old story," Mr. Annan said in Nairobi, when told of an account in The New Yorker that as Under Secretary General in charge of peacekeeping he had ordered peacekeepers in Rwanda not to intervene after an informer had said lists were being drawn up and weapons stored for an assault on Tutsi.
Mr. Annan, who is on an eight nation tour of Africa said, "The failure to prevent the 1994 genocide was local, national and international," adding that the failure included important nations with the power to make a difference. "The fundamental failure was the lack of political will, not the lack of information," he said.
The American, French and Belgian Embassies in Kigali Rwanda, were told about the warning immediately, and the Security Council later received a less detailed briefing, United Nations officials have said. Those officials and independent experts say the Clinton Administration effectively blocked international involvement for months, even after the killings had begun to run their destructive course. On a recent visit to Rwanda, Mr. Clinton apologized for the inaction. "No one can deny that the world failed the people of Rwanda," Mr. Annan said today. "But the crucial issue is not how to apportion blame with the benefit of hindsight." Rather, he added, "we should be asking how we can insure that such a tragedy can never happen again."
