Jailed Rwandan ex-president pleads for mercy

KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on Monday he was considering a plea for clemency from the nation's first post-genocide president, in jail for crimes including inciting ethnic violence and embezzling state funds.

Pasteur Bizimungu, who in February received a 15-year term for the crimes committed after his resignation in 2000, said his release would be "for the good of the nation" in a letter printed by local newspapers last week.

"It is true that I received the letter of Mr. Bizimungu but I am yet to think about it and analyze its content," Kagame told reporters. "I will let you know if I make a decision."

An ethnic Hutu, Bizimungu became president when the ruling Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took power after the 1994 genocide in which extremists from the Hutu majority butchered 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

Kagame, whose Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Army ended the hundred days of slaughter, was then vice-president.

"Your excellency, the President of the Republic of Rwanda, in reference to the court case against me, I never intended to commit any crime, to do bad, or break any laws," local media quoted the letter as saying.

"Now that the court cases are over, I beg for your mercy to lift the rest of the sentence and have me released."

In the aftermath of the genocide, cooperation between Bizimungu, a French-speaking Hutu, and Kagame, an English-speaking Tutsi, had been intended to symbolize reconciliation in the tiny central African nation.

But their relationship soured, and in March 2000, Bizimungu quit after falling out with top RPF members over the make-up of a new cabinet. Throughout his presidency, Bizimungu remained in the shadow of Kagame, his more powerful vice-president, who was also minister of defense at the time.