France deports genocide suspect

Dominique Ntawukuriryayo reportedly has a Tutsi wife

France has deported a genocide suspect to the UN Rwandan war crimes tribunal based in neighbouring Tanzania.

Dominique Ntawukuriryayo, a former regional governor, was arrested in southern France last year.

Prosecutors accuse him of taking part in the massacre of up to 25,000 Tutsis over a five-day period in April 1994.

Mr Ntawukuriryayo, 65, has denied the charges. He has French residency papers, and had lived in the town of Carcassonne since 1999.

He is the third fugitive wanted by the tribunal to be arrested in France.

Mr Ntawukuriryayo, born in 1942, was a sub-prefect in the area of Gisagara at the time of the killings in Kabuye Hill.

The AFP news agency reports that he was living in France with his Tutsi wife.

Since 1997 the tribunal has convicted 30 ringleaders of the genocide and acquitted five people.

Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed during the 100-day massacre in 1994.