Officials Lambaste, Snub Leader of U.N.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan felt the full force of this nation’s anger when he was blasted over the world body’s handling of the 1994 genocide and then boycotted by top officials. In the capital, Kigali, Annan sat through a blistering indictment of the United Nations’ failures before, during and after the genocide, delivered in parliament by Foreign Minister Anastase Gasana. Then he was stood up by the country’s president, vice president and prime minister at a dinner in his honor. Presidential spokesman Joseph Bideri said the snub was to protest the “arrogance” of Annan’s speech after Gasana’s broadside, explaining that Annan talked about the necessity for atonement on the part of Rwandan people, but he was not prepared to atone for the failures of the organization he heads. Annan’s aides said he had expected a frosty reception, but the virulent response to Annan’s speech, which was drafted with great care, clearly shocked the secretary-general’s entourage.