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Kabiligi had five different passports says witnessBy Hirondelle News Agency A prosecution witness testifying in the trial of four senior ex-FAR officials at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda told the court that the former head of military operations of the army, Gratien Kabiligi had five different passports which allowed him to change his identity each time he crossed the border. The witness code-named LAI to protect his identity has been testifying since the trial resumed on Monday. His testimony has touched mainly on Kabiligi. He said the accused, "could pass more times in the borders changing names". He also challenged the court, "If Kabiligi was so honest, why did he have so many passports?" The witness was being cross-examined by the lead defense counsel for Kabiligi, Togolese Jean Yaovi Degli who asked him how he knew that Kabiligi had many passports. In response, the witness said that he lived in Cyangugu near the border with Zaire (now Congo) and many times he was informed about it by other people. He also told the court that Kabiligi visited the Rubarika army camp accompanied by a certain Captain Bavugamenshi after crossing the border into Zaire. The witness who currently faces genocide charges and is still in prison in Rwanda had earlier alleged that Kabiligi also signed fuel coupons for the Interahamwe to use. He also testified earlier that Kabiligi worked together with other senior government officials who clandestinely distributed weapons on the borders with Zaire. "Kabiligi came there to show us that we (Interahamwe) were benefiting from the army" Witness LAI will continue being cross-examined by another defense counsel. LAI is testifying in the morning after which another witness code-named "A" testifies through video conferencing from The Hague. Witness A testified in closed session on Wednesday. Genocide suspect Kabiligi is co-accused with the former chief of cabinet in the Ministry of Defense, Theoneste Bagosora, the former commander of Para-commando Battalion in Kigali, Aloys Ntabakuze and the former army commander of Gisenyi region, Lieutenant Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva. All four have pleaded not guilty to charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The trial is before trial chamber one of the ICTR composed of Judge Erik Mose from Norway, presiding, Judge Serguei Aleckseievich Egorov from Russia and Judge Jai Ram Reddy of Fiji.
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