Ex-Rwandan leader gets life in prison for genocide

A UN war crimes tribunal sentenced a formercity governor to life in prison after finding he was one of the main perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

The Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found Lt.-Col. Tharcisse Renzaho, 65, guilty of genocide, murder and rape.More than 800,000 people were massacred between April and July 1994.

Most of those killed wereminority Tutsis or moderate Hutus killed by Hutu militias.

Renzaho was the governor of the Rwandan capital of Kigali at the time, during which he had command overthe city's police force.

Renzaho incited the killings and pushed Hutu soldiers, militia and civilians to set up roadblocks to intercept and kill Tutsis fleeing the violence, the court said.

Renzaho was alsoimplicated in the killings of more than 100 Tutsis at Holy Family church during the height of the genocide.He was at the site before the attack and shortly before it ended, but failed to stop the killings, said presiding Judge Erik Mose.

Renzaho will appeal the convictions of five counts of genocide and crimes against humanity, said defence lawyer Francois Cantier. He had pleaded not guiltyto all charges.

The Tanzania-based tribunal was set up by the UN in 1994 to try those responsible for the killing. It had its first conviction in 1997. There have been 42 judgments, with six acquittals.

The 1994 massacres took place after Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana's plane was mysteriously shot down over Kigali as he returned home from peace talks with Tutsi-led rebels.

Hours after the crash, Hutu militias set up roadblocks across Kigali and the next day the killings began.