BRUSSELS, July 12 (Reuter) - The European Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs on Sunday launched a scathing attack on political developments in Central Africa, describing recent events as "the unattractive side of African assertiveness". Emma Bonino, who has overseen EU efforts to coordinate aid and relief in the region, told Reuters that her outburst was fired by comments by Rwandan vice-president Paul Kagame. In an interview last week with the Washington Post, Kagame -- who is also Rwanda's defence minister -- admitted his country's role in toppling Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko and installing Laurent Kabila as ruler of a renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo. "I am not surprised by the content of his revelations or even intrigued by his motives," Bonino said by telephone from Italy. "He has displayed remarkable intellectual honesty in breaking the cover of one of the biggest lies of our time." But Bonino said dozens of questions remained unanswered over political developments in the region, part

icularly Kagame's claim that the rebellion in former Zaire took place with U.S. approval. In the Post interview, Kagame commended Washington for "taking the right decisions to let it proceed". "Frankly I am surprised that this has been allowed to pass without comment," Bonino said. "Someone in Washington might like to explain further as there were many people -- myself included -- who were never party to such a decision. "We were very few who claimed international laws were being broken. This was in actuality a foreign invasion ... armed aggression against a sovereign United Nations member." Kagame told the Post that Rwandan "mid-level commanders" led the rebellion, adding "it would have been more suitable ... but riskier" if Congolese rebels had done more fighting. Bonino said similar action was now taking place in Sudan, where "the same pattern of silent aggression is unfolding". "There has been a great deal of (international) enthusiasm for some of the political change in Africa," Bonino said. "But there

is really much less enthusiasm for this unattractive side of African assertiveness". A great political wind has blown through the region since Yoweri Museveni became president of Uganda over a decade ago on the back of a rebellion partially masterminded by the then-exiled Kagame. Museveni paid back his Tutsi allies with interest when the Rwandan Patriotic Front swept to power in 1994 to put an end to a bloody genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus by hardcore Hutu extremists. Hundreds of thousands of Hutus fled Rwanda that year to escape blame for the genocide. Most returned when Kabila's rebellion started in eastern Zaire last October, but hundreds of thousands instead fled further west. Since then there have been dozens of reports of massacres of refugees by the rebels. Kinshasa and Kigali have denied atrocities have taken place, but until Kagame's revelations last week they had also denied any Rwandan role in the rebellion. Uganda, which along with Angola was also accused by many observers of having suppli

ed troops and weapons to the Zaire rebellion, is also accused by Khartoum of openly backing an insurgency in south Sudan. Bonino called on the international community to step up pressure on Kabila to cooperate more fully with a U.N. investigation into human rights abuses, but said she doubted the political will existed for such action. "The fact that those accused of the violations are allowed to dictate terms of inquiry is ridiculous," she said. "Should we ask (indicted former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan) Karadzic how we should proceed against him?"