Rwanda genocide suspect arrested

The vast majority of those killed were Tutsis

A former Hutu militia leader suspected of a leading role in the Rwandan genocide has been arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Yussuf Munyakazi is accused of involvement in the killing of thousands of Tutsis in the southwest of Rwanda.

He was on an American list of most wanted genocide suspects, with a reward of up to $5m for information leading to his arrest.

An estimated 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda in 1994.

Prosecutors at the International Tribunal for Rwanda say Mr Munyakazi was captured earlier this week.

He has been transferred to a tribunal detention centre in Arusha, in Tanzania.

Mr Munyakazi is accused of leading the local Interahamwe militia which killed thousands of civilian Tutsi in Cyangugu and Kibuye provinces in April and May 1994.

According to the indictment, he is alleged to have planned and participated in the killing of Tutsi civilians who took refuge in several churches in the region.

Born in 1935 in Kibuye, Mr Munyakazi was a businessman and farmer in Bugarama commune in Cyangugu.

His arrest brings to 68 the number of accused persons arrested by the tribunal.