Paris - The French National Assembly's defence committee decided yesterday to open an inquiry into France's role in Rwanda in the run-up to the 1994 genocide.
A statement from the office of Defence Committee chairman Mr Paul Quiles said a panel of 10 parliamentarians would take part in the inquiry on 'military operations by France, other countries and the United Nations in Rwanda between 1990 and 1994.'
The decision followed a call on Monday by aid groups and leading intellectuals for such an inquiry.
Up to 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, were killed by Rwandan government-backed militias in the central African country in early 1994. Between 1990 and 1994, France provided financial and military backing for Kigali under a defence pact. Since then the media have regularly reported allegationsthat France backed the Hutu regime even after it launched the genocide.