20100813
reuters

KIGALI (Reuters) - A Rwandan confessed to throwing a grenade in the capital Kigali which killed two people on Wednesday when results showed that President Paul Kagame won re-election by a landslide, police said.

Police spokesman Eric Kayiranga said on Friday that the time, location and type of strike bore the hallmarks of a string of deadly attacks earlier this year. The government says a dissident general exiled in South Africa is behind the attacks.

No details were given about the suspect's identity.

"The man confessed to have thrown the grenade. Whoever does such a thing is a criminal, an enemy of Rwanda's stability," Kayiranga told Reuters by telephone. "We are still working on it to find out if they (previous attacks) are linked to the political environment we are in."

Foreign diplomats say the succession of blasts have all occurred on politically significant dates.

One previous attack happened in May, hours after Kagame was selected as ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) party candidate for this week's election.

Another occurred on the day Kagame, who seized control after his rebel army ended the 1994 genocide, announced a dramatic reshuffle of the army in April.

Analysts say the attacks are not a direct attempt to overthrow Kagame but more to provoke the bush war veteran into clamping down on civil liberties and create a political crisis.

"We know now who they are and how they operate and we have put in place mechanisms to put an end to these grenade attacks," Kayiranga said.

Kagame won 93 percent of the presidential vote, but opponents said the campaign period was marred by repression and violence. The result must now be signed off by the Supreme Court.