Rwanda: Son of President Habyarimana Laid to Rest in France


The funeral of the son of the former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana is due in France on Friday - making two of his children now dead, RNA has established.

According to sources, Mr. Jean-Claude Habyarimana died in an accident on September 29 but there has been mixed information as to how exactly that happened. He has been living in France along with his embattled mother Ms. Agathe Kanziga Habyarimana.


The former President - who died on April 6 1994 when his presidential Falcon 50 was shot down over Kigali - had daughters Jeanne, Marie-Rose and Marie-Merci. His sons include Jean-Luc, Léon and Bernard.

The death of Jean-Claude follows that of Jean-Pierre in 1997 who was buried in DR Congo - formerly Zaire under President Mobutu. The funeral for Jean-Claude will be held at Évry some 25 km out of Paris.

As the other children live in France, Marie-Rose has lived in Canada even before the father died in 1994. She was a student there and attained asylum. She was in the news in January this year when she tried to get asylum for her mother but was turned down.

The family remains away from public exposure especially media in Rwanda only leaving Jean-Luc to take up the public relations role. He recently accorded an interview to RNA partner journalist in Paris - Serge Farnel