A former Rwandan general who is wanted on genocide charges has been arrested in Belgium at the request of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

The man, Augustin Ndindiliyimana, is the most senior military figure arrested so far.

He was the chief of staff of the Rwandan military police the Gendarmerie Nationale during the 1994 genocide in which up to eight-hundred-thousand people, mainly Tutsis, were slaughtered.

He fled the country shortly after the genocide and later won refugee status in Belgium, although the Belgian authorities have begun moves to try him there. Correspondents say he is believed to have information about the killing of ten Belgian troops stationed in Rwanda under UN command at the start of the genocide.

In a separate development the Tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, is visiting London for talks with the British government; it is not clear whether this is related to the residence in London of another genocide suspect, Colonel Tharcisse Muvunyi.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service