Rwanda denies genocide allegations

KIGALI, Rwanda, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Rwanda, refuting French charges of genocide of ethnic Tutsis in 1994, has rejected calls its President Paul Kagame stand trial.

The call against Kagame was made by a French judge over the death of his predecessor Juvenal Habyarimana in a plane crash, which is believed to have led to the massacre, the BBC reported.

Rwanda's Justice minister dismissed the allegation of Kagame's involvement as "totally unfounded."

Habyarimana's plane was shot down by militias and the subsequent killings took the lives of some 800,000 people.

Kagame has always denied any allegation against him and has accused France, as a close ally of the old Hutu regime, of being complicit in the killings.

A hearing began last month in the Rwandan capital of Kigali to look into allegations of French involvement.