The former Rwandan intelligence Chief Patrick Karegeya who has been in exile in South Africa, has been found dead in a Johannesburg hotel room.
Mr Karegeya, formerly head of Rwanda’s foreign intelligence service, has been living in South Africa for the past six years.
The former spy was found strangled in a hotel in South Africa, his opposition party said in a statement released on Thursday.
“The Rwandan opposition is deeply saddened to announce the assassination of Colonel Patrick Karegeya in Johannesburg,” the Rwanda National Congress (RNC) said. ”His body was found in a hotel where he went for a meeting.”
The chairman of the party, Frank Ntawali told AFP: “It is true, he was strangled by agents of (Rwandan President Paul) Kagame.”
It should be noted that Karegeya was stripped of the rank of colonel after falling out with his former ally, President Paul Kagame.
Kagame accused him of involvement in terrorist attacks in Kigali.
Karegeya and former Rwandan army chief Faustin Kayumba were among four exiled former top officials for whom Rwanda issued international arrest warrants in 2011.
A military court sentenced them to long jail terms in absentia in 2011 for threatening state security and promoting ethnic divisions.
In 2010, Gen Nyamwasa and Mr Karegeya formed a new opposition party – the Rwanda National Congress.
Ntwali told AFP that Karegeya was killed at the Michelangelo Towers, an upmarket hotel in the Johannesburg suburb of Sandton. It was not immediately clear if he was killed on Tuesday night or on Wednesday.
The RNC statement said investigations had found “overwhelming evidence of the involvement of Rwandan intelligence operatives in those attempts”.
However, Rwanda has vehemently denied involvement in the attacks.
