President Bush to Welcome President Paul Kagame of Rwanda

Technorati Tags: President Bush and White House or President Paul Kagame and Republic of Rwanda or President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and African Growth and Opportunity Act or PEPFAR and AGOA

President Bush to Welcome President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda, Visit by President Kagame of Rwanda

President Bush will welcome President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda to the White House on Wednesday, May 31, 2006. President Bush looks forward to discussing our excellent bilateral relations, including Rwanda's successful participation in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The leaders will also discuss Rwanda's strides toward reconciliation, democracy, and inclusiveness, and the important role of women in advancing these vital objectives. The United States' role in Rwanda's economic growth and development through trade, investment, and assistance will also be discussed. President Bush will take this opportunity to recognize Rwanda's contributions to stability in the Great Lakes region, as well as its peacekeeping contributions in Sudan.

# # # For Immediate Release, Office of the Press Secretary, May 25, 2006

In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years, thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions, culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and the former Zaire. Since then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but about 10,000 remain in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo and have formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda, much as the RPF tried in 1990.

Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in August and September 2003 - the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output, and ethnic reconciliation is complicated by the real and perceived Tutsi political dominance.

Kigali's increasing centralization and intolerance of dissent, the nagging Hutu extremist insurgency across the border, and Rwandan involvement in two wars in recent years in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts to escape its bloody legacy. CIA Fact Book

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President Bush to Welcome Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan

Technorati Tags: President Bush and White House or Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Japan or Asia and economic issues

President Bush to Welcome Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan

The President and Mrs. Bush will welcome Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan to the White House on June 29, 2006. The U.S.-Japan alliance is an alliance based on common values and a common agenda.

The President looks forward to continuing his close consultations with Prime Minister Koizumi on the war on terror, defending freedom and democracy, promoting regional security and prosperity in Asia, and enhancing closer cooperation on global economic issues.

# # # For Immediate Release, Office of the Press Secretary, May 24, 2006

In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Following the Treaty of Kanagawa with the US in 1854, Japan opened its ports and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia.

It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1931-32 Japan occupied Manchuria, and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US.

While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia and globally. In 2005, Japan began a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. CIA Fact Book

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