Gen. Charles F. Wald, visiting deputy commander of the US military's European Command for Europe and Africa, said in Kigali on Tuesday the US military is going to strengthen its relationship with the Rwanda Defense Forces.

Speaking at a press briefing after the signing of the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreements (ACSA) with Rwandan Defense Minister Gen. Marcel Gatsinzi, Gen. Wald, "This is about training together, practicing for peacekeeping missions and cooperating in information sharing.'' "It's about normalizing our military relations,'' he added.

"The ACSA is a bilateral international agreement for mutual support that provides the legal authority to exchange logistic support, supplies and services between the United States and the foreign military forces on a reimbursable basis," explained Gen. Wald.

Gen. Wald said that the ACSA doesn't permit transferring weapons systems; major end items of equipment except for providing temporary use of general-purpose vehicles and certain other non-lethal equipment.

"With the agreement it doesn't mean that the United States will provide military ammunition but logistical support, information sharing and military training to the Rwanda military," Gen. Wald said, adding that the agreement would "normalize military relations between Rwanda and the United States."

The agreement paves the way for the US military to cooperate with the Rwandan army in non-lethal operations, including sharing military logistics, supplies and services, said Col. Patrick Karegeya, the Rwandan defense spokesman.

Rwanda's military is largely made up of former rebels who ended the 1994 genocide in Rwanda by ousting a government of extremists from the Hutu majority, which orchestrated the slaughter of nearly 1 million people, mostly minority Tutsis and modest Hutus.

Source: Xinhua