[JURIST] A former Rwandan mayor on Wednesday pleaded guilty to aiding the 1994 genocide as part of a plea deal with prosecutors for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website; JURIST news archive]. Under the plea deal, Paul Bisengimana, former mayor of Gikoro, pleaded guilty to murder and extermination as crimes against humanity, but three other charges of rape and genocide were dropped. According to the original indictment [PDF text], Bisengimana had ordered the rape of minority Tutsi women and also was involved in transporting soldiers, weapons and fuel during one attack at the Musha church during the 1994 genocide. Bisengimana attempted a guilty plea [JURIST report] in November, but the ICTR rejected the plea agreement due to discrepancies between it and the indictment. The ICTR is under pressure to complete its case load by 2008, although 17 more cases remain to be tried and nine suspects remain at large. The ICTR has a news release on the plea deal. Reuters has more.