Rwandan Tribunal makes first acquittal

The appeals court of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has upheld the acquittal of a former mayor accused of playing a major role in the genocide in 1994.

It's the first time the tribunal has acquitted anyone since it was set up at Arusha in Tanzania to try the most serious crimes of the Rwandan civil war.

The court ordered the release of the accused man, Ignace Bagilishema, who'd been charged with helping to organise mass killings by Hutus of their Tutsi fellow citizens.

He was originally found not guilty, but the prosecutors appealed on the grounds that the trial judges had incorrectly assessed evidence. Mr Bagilishema, who spent three years in detention, said he was planning to return to France.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service