France to declassify Rwanda files

[Namelessv1]

France says it will release classified documents on the Rwandan genocide, after claims that French troops were complicit in the 1994 massacre.

Some 105 documents will be given to a magistrate investigating the claims by four genocide survivors.

Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie took the decision on the recommendation of France's defence secrets commission.

The plaintiffs accuse soldiers of rape, murder and complicity "in genocide and/or crimes against humanity".

The Rwandan Tutsis, aged between 25 and 39, have brought their case against the French military in the French courts.

During the genocide some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists.

French troops were sent to Rwanda as part of a United Nations force.

Rwanda has repeatedly accused Paris of complicity in the genocide. France has denied any role.

The four survivors say French troops committed crimes themselves, and also let Hutu killers enter refugee camps under their protection.

An inquiry began last month in Rwanda into alleged French complicity in training and arming the Hutu extremists.

After hearing testimony from witnesses, the Rwandan panel will rule on whether to file a suit at the International Court of

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6110646.stm