P-24 The hands of the French... also bloody and in denial

France accused on Rwanda killings A former senior Rwandan diplomat has told a tribunal that France played an active role in Rwanda's 1994 genocide..... Former Rwandan ambassador to Paris Jacques Bihozagara said French involvement stemmed from concerns about its diminishing influence in Africa...... France has denied playing any role in the 100-day frenzy of killing in which 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died.

"France has not expressed regret," AFP quotes Mr Bihozagara as saying during his three-hour testimony...... He added that even after the genocide the French government had not apprehended genocide suspects living in France.

The BBC's Geoffrey Mutagoma in Kigali says that it is also alleged that French soldiers provided escape routes to militia escaping to the Democratic Republic of Congo after the massacres...... French soldiers were deployed in parts of Rwanda in the final weeks of the genocide under a United Nations mandate known as Operation Turquoise to set up a protected zone.

UPDATES:
'06 Oct 26 The politics of excess in France