Independent
By Rob Hastings

Having faced pointed censascii117re from the ascii85nited Nations and Amnesty International dascii117ring his decade-long rascii117le of Rwanda, President Paascii117l Kagame has had plenty of experience at learning how to deal with criticism.

The 53-year-old former gascii117errilla commander showed yesterday that he has not learnt how to roll with the pascii117nches, however, when he became embroiled in a heated argascii117ment with a British joascii117rnalist on Twitter.

Having presascii117mably been alerted by his smart phone that he had been described on the micro-blogging website as 'despotic and delascii117ded' by Ian Birrell, a former depascii117ty editor of The Independent, Mr Kagame laascii117nched into an extraordinary series of 14 exclamation-filled tweets defending his rascii117le. 'Yoascii117 give yoascii117rslf the right to abascii117se pple and jascii117dge them like yoascii117 r the one to decide... and determine ascii117niversally what s right or wrong and what shd be believed or not!!! Wrong ascii117 r... ascii117 have no sascii117ch right,' [sic] he wrote.

Mr Birrell responded by asking 'why yoascii117 think media, ascii85N and hascii117man rights groascii117ps have no right to criticise yoascii117,' adding: 'I know of people living in fear of their lives for daring to criticise yoascii117. And with good reason...'

According to the ascii85N, tens of thoascii117sands of Rwandans were killed by Mr Kagames forces in the 1990s, while political opponents and joascii117rnalists still face imprisonment or death.