[JURIST] Rwandan President Paul Kagame [official website; BBC profile] publicly alleged Wednesday that France supported the 1994 genocide [HRW backgrounder; BBC backgrounder] that wracked the African nation. Kagame previously accused the French government of providing training and weapons [JURIST report] to Hutu militias who perpetrated the 100-day massacre that left over 800,000 Tutsis and Hutus dead. This is nonetheless the first time the Rwandan president has blamed the French for failing to stop the killings and for supporting the government that carried out the massacre. Kagame's comments follow a decision by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] to accept into evidence [JURIST report] a report compiled by a French anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere [BBC profile] that implicated Kagame in the 1994 killing of former president Juvenal Habyarimana [Wikipedia profile], which sparked the genocide.

Last month, Bruguiere issued several arrest warrants for Rwandan officials [JURIST report] and pressed for Kagame himself to be tried for Habyarimana's murder. Rwanda has severed diplomatic ties [JURIST report] with the French government over the bid. Reuters has more.