UN prosecutor hails arrest of Rwanda genocide suspect

• Kabuga is expected to be tried at the mechanism's branch in Arusha, an official from the proscecutor's office told AFP.

THE HAGUE: A top UN prosecutor said on Saturday that the arrest of a key Rwanda genocide fugitive in France showed that suspects would be brought to justice for crimes in the 1994 bloodshed.

"The arrest of Felicien Kabuga today is a reminder that those responsible for genocide can be brought to account, even 26 years after their crimes," said Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT).

"Today's arrest underlines the strength of our determination."

The UN body is wrapping up cases from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in the Tanzanian town of Arusha, which closed in 2015, and the Hague-based UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which shut in 2017.

"Following completion of appropriate procedures under French law, Kabuga is expected to the transferred to the custody of the Mechanism, where he will stand trial," the MICT said in a statement.

Kabuga is expected to be tried at the mechanism's branch in Arusha, an official from the proscecutor's office told AFP.

His eventual transfer to UN custody was likely to take some time because of the COVID-19 pandemic, tribunal sources said.

Prosecutor Brammertz praised French authorities, saying the arrest "could not have been made without their exceptional cooperation and skill".

He also thanked other countries and international organisations that helped including Interpol and Europol.

French police arrested Kabuga in a "sophisticated, coordinated operation with simultaneous searches across a number of locations," the MICT statement added.

Kabuga was indicted by the Rwanda tribunal on seven counts including genocide.