Rwandan leader hits out at UK journalist on Twitter

The Rwandan president Paul Kagame has used Twitter to engage in a remarkable spat with British journalist Ian Birrell. In what some 'digital gurus' are calling another first for the social media site - namely a head of state using it to directly engage with a journalist - the pair conducted a high-profile row that was open to the world and that even drew in Kagame's foreign minister, Louise Mushikiwabo.

Writing for the Guardian's Comment is Free site, Birrell, a former deputy editor of the Independent who was also in the running to replace Andy Coulson as the head of the Conservatives' press operations earlier this year, explained how after "returning home from a Saturday afternoon walk with the dog", he logged on to Twitter to find Kagame had responded to comments that the journalist had made earlier that morning.

After reading an interview given by Kagame, Birrell had observed in a tweet: "No-one in media, UN or human rights groups has the moral right to criticise me, says despotic & deluded Paul Kagame."

While Birrell had been walking his dog, Kagame defended himself on his Twitter feed: "Not you either. No moral right! You give yourself the right to abuse ppl and judge them like you r the one to decide and determine universally what is right or wrong."

"All slightly surreal," writes Birrell, who worked as a speechwriter for David Cameron in the 2010 general election campaign. He went on to note the incongruity of some of the debate being conducted in "the sort of text abbreviations used by teenagers".

Kagame eventually half-answered Birrell's central point that Rwandans were unable to criticise their government when newspapers are being forced to close. He defended himself by pointing out that the UN and media could criticise his regime but had flaws themselves which they should be answerable for.

At this point, though, Mushikiwabo came wading in to the discussion like a drunk in a pub backing up a mate in trouble. "Wld u care 2 know what 11,000,000 Rwandans think of Paul Kagame b4 u spread ur formed opinion? 2 big a challenge 4 u?" she demanded of Birrell before spouting "juvenile nonsense" that she later blocked people from viewing.

Despite their disagreement, Birrell praises Kagame for his willingness to "engage so personally with a new means of communication" although he does criticise Kagame's Twitter faux-pas of not following anyone else. ·