Former mayor acquitted in Rwanda genocide

ARUSHA, Tanzania, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A U.N. tribunal has acquitted a former Rwandan mayor of genocide.

The judge said prosecutors failed to prove former mayor Jean Mpambara's role in the 1994 killings in the eastern Rwandan commune of Rukara in Kibungo Prefecture, IRIN reported.

Mpambara was accused of instigating or assisting attackers during the genocide, which the Rwandan government said caused the deaths of 937,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

In another judgment, the tribunal sentenced Tharcisse Muvunyi, former commander of a military academy in southern Rwanda, to 25 years for his role in the genocide, IRIN said.