Kagame goes wild in New York, stays in $16,000-per-night luxury hotel

Rwandan President Paul Kagame is living in luxury during the United Nations General Assembly, staying in the $16,000-per-night presidential suite at the Mandarin Oriental.

Kagame’s rooms have “panoramic views of Central Park, the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline,” says the hotel’s Web site. Rwanda’s average annual income last year was $1,150, according to the World Bank.

Kagame, whose reps didn’t get back to us, is one of many world leaders with spending sprees on their UN agendas, despite the dismal global economic climate.

Saudi leaders are at The Plaza, sources said, and a group of them headed to the hotel’s Warren-Tricomi salon yesterday for grooming.

UN General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser and other Qatari royals visited bespoke suitmaker Domenico Vacca, where Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani dropped six figures, said a source. And you thought Fashion Week was over the top.

Israeli and Saudi delegates descended on Madison Avenue eatery Nello on Monday, while the Germans went yesterday for a lavish lunch. “Thank God the Greeks didn’t come at the same time as the Germans, or the [European] bailout would be over,” joked a spy.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri was dining at Harry Cipriani, as were dignitaries from Nigeria. “They have the Secret Service scout the area and then call up giving a fake American name like ‘Wilson,’ ” a spy said.

Argentina President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner hit town after a Parisian shopping spree, during which she reportedly bought 20 pairs of Louboutins at $5,500 a pair.

Palestinians, including President Mahmoud Abbas -- whose room is a more modest $3,000-a-night -- are holing up at the UN Millennium, as are Egyptian chiefs, sources said. “Security is unbelievable,” said a spy. “There are bomb-sniffing dogs and an ‘iron ring’ surrounding the hotel.”

Source: (The New York Post)

• It would be very interesting to know where President Jakaya Kikwete and his delegation are staying in  New York and how much Tanzanian taxpayers are paying for it. Kikwete is also in the "Big Apple" to attend a UN meeting.