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Main suspect goes on trial at Rwanda war crimes tribunal

The trial of a Rwandan official accused of being one of the main instigators of the 1994 genocide opened on Monday at the UN war crimes tribunal in Tanzania.

Tharcisse Renzaho, the former prefect of the Rwandan capital Kigali, has been charged with genocide, complicity to commit genocide, assassination as a crime against humanity, assassination as a war crime, and rape.

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) have focused on what they allege was Renzhao's direct involvement in killing members of the Tutsi minority at the height of the genocide that claimed the lives of an estimated 800,000 people.

"Renzaho took part in the massacre of Tutsi citizens, looting and destuction of their property," prosecutor Jonathan Moses told the court, adding that Renzaho's appointment as prefect had coincided with a campaign of mass arrests across Rwanda.

Renzaho, 63, encouraged the raping of Tutsi women, declaring publicly that the women should be "food" for the military and replying "I don't care" when peolpe sought help from him, Moses said.

Renzaho fled into exile after Rwanda's Hutu regime fell to the then rebel movement, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) led by current president Paul Kagame.

His lawyer Francois Cantier accused the UN tribunal of bias for not trying war crimes suspects from the FPR.

"This tribunal tries suspects only from one camp," Cartier said.

"Renzaho was and still is an resolute enemy of the current government in Kigali," Cartier added.

Renzaho has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The former Rwandan official was arrested in September 2002 in the Democratic Republic of Congo after pressure was placed by US President George W. Bush on his Congolese counterpart, Joseph Kabila.

Washington had offered up to US$5 million for information leading to the arrest of some 15 Rwandans being hunted by the ICTR, including Renzaho.

Formed in late 1994, the ICTR, tasked with trying the masterminds on the Rwandan massacre, has to date convicted 27 suspects and acquitted five.
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