EU will only conduct internal monitoring of Rwanda poll

(KIGALI) - The European Union will monitor Rwanda's August 9 presidential election for internal purposes only and has deployed four experts rather than a team of monitors, a senior official said Thursday.

Head of the EU delegation in Rwanda Michel Arrion told AFP four experts -- two specialised in elections, one in legal matters and one in media coverage -- have been deployed.

"They are doing electoral analysis and legal and media coverage analysis," Arrion said.

The experts will not produce a public statement, only internal reports for use by the European Commission and its member states, he said.

"It's informal support. They will support the process if requested," he said, adding that the four are "coordinating very closely with the observation teams... and the electoral commission."

The decision not to send a full monitoring team was dictated "essentially by budgetary factors", he said, particularly in view of the number of African countries holding elections in 2010.

"Rwanda was not among the top priority countries."

Rwanda's Electoral Commission said it has accredited 1,394 observers, 214 of them international. Among the bodies who have sent monitors are the African Union, the Commonwealth, which Rwanda joined recently. and various western and African embassies.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has been leading a high-octane and expensive campaign over the past two weeks and is almost assured of re-election, facing challenges from only three politicians with ties to his regime.

Opponents and rights groups have criticised Kagame for tightening the noose on any dissident voices ahead of the election but the authorities have dismissed the accusations as unfounded and the result of a smear campaign.