The Organisation of African Unity has announced the creation of a panel of seven eminent personalities to investigate the causes of the l994 genocide in Rwanda.

The panel, which will be mostly African, will be headed by the recently-retired president of Botswana, Ketumile Masire and includes the former Malian leader, Amadou Toumani Toure, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia.

The OAU secretary-general, Salim Ahmed Salim, said Africa had a duty to see such a thing never occurred again.

He rejected suggestions that the action was too late, saying the aim was to draw lessons from the tragedy, rather than apportion blame.