20000207

Rwandan war crimes suspect held in Britain

LONDON: A Rwandan army officer suspected of genocide and crimes against humanity has been arrested in London after a U.N. court issued an extradition warrant, British police said on Sunday.

Tharcisse Muvunyi, 46, who has been living under temporary asylum in Britain, was arrested on Saturday at a residential address in Lewisham, south London, a spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police force told Reuters.

The extradition warrant from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) based in Tanzania, said Muvunyi was wanted for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity, the spokesman added.

Muvunyi, a former Rwandan army commanding officer is being held at a central London police station and will appear at Bow Street magistrates court in the capital on Monday, police said.

The ICTR was set up by the United Nations to bring to justice those involved in the 1994 genocide, in which more than 800,000 of the Tutsi minority tribe in the southern African country were slaughtered by the Hutu majority in just 100 days.

The ICTR was alerted to Muvunyi's whereabouts by the Sunday Times newspaper, which found him living in the British capital on social security with his wife and children.

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said in a statement: "Muvunyi is now before the courts. I am pleased we were able to respond swiftly to the tribunal's request.

"This is more evidence of our determination to support the ICTR in its work to bring perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice."

Carla Del Ponte, the chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor, visited London earlier this month to press British officials to arrest Muvunyi.-Reuters