Word: powerful
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...claimed more than 800,000 lives, sparked years of violent unrest in central Africa and poisoned French-Rwandan relations so severely that Kigali, the Rwandan capital, suspended diplomatic ties with Paris in 2006 and replaced French with English in Rwandan schools. So when French President Nicolas Sarkozy came into power in 2007, he made repairing relations with Rwanda - and clearing up the lingering suspicions and accusations surrounding the genocide - a major foreign-policy priority. During his visit to Rwanda this week, he appeared to turn a page in the countries' relations by acknowledging that France had committed "grave errors...
...before being ousted in a military coup in September 2006. At the time, military leaders cited his unbridled corruption and alleged disloyalty to the country's monarchy to justify their action. Under international pressure, the generals stepped down and allowed elections to return a civilian to power after a little over one year of rule, but they still wield considerable power. Although Thaksin has been banned from politics for five years for violating election laws, he remains popular with the rural poor, who feel he was the first Thai leader to address their needs by implementing social welfare programs, such...
...seized Government House, where the Prime Minister's office is located, and New Bangkok International Airport in 2008 as part of their efforts to oust the elected Thaksin-allied government, which they believed was preparing to dismiss all the cases against him, paving the way for his return to power. That seems ever more unlikely after Friday's court decision, although both Thaksin and his supporters are certain to continue to fight for his eventual return...
...past position of irreproachability in the slaughter. Until now, the official French line has been that Paris reacted quickly to the crisis by leading a U.N.-sanctioned peacekeeping mission called Operation Turquoise to halt the killings. France has also flatly refuted claims by Tutsi militia leaders who took power in Rwanda after the genocide - and still form the basis of the Rwandan government - that French forces serving as advisers in the country in the early 1990s actually assisted the then ruling Hutus in the massacre. (See more about Rwanda...
...Africa in order to maintain its political and business interests on the continent. Now Sarkozy is looking to loosen France's heavy political and military commitments in Africa and pass the responsibilities of maintaining security to a group of stable and reliable partners in the region. As a central power in a long-troubled region, Rwanda is a main pillar in Sarkozy's strategy...