Emotional Scenes as Rwanda Marks 20th Anniversary of Genocide

Rwanda on Monday held solemn commemorations marking the 20th anniversary of the genocide, with many survivors overcome with grief as they relived the trauma of the massacres that left nearly a million dead.

The events also bore reminders of festering anger, as a major diplomatic row broke out over renewed allegations of French complicity in the genocide.

In a speech at the national stadium, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon admitted the international community was still wracked by the "shame" of having failed to act in Rwanda and making the same mistake a year later during the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia.

"Many United Nations personnel and others showed remarkable bravery. But we could have done much more. We should have done much more. In Rwanda, troops were withdrawn when they were most needed," Ban said.

"The shame still clings, a generation after the events."

The well-planned and viciously executed genocide began late on April 6, 1994, shortly after Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana was killed when his plane was shot down over Kigali. Roadblocks were set up, with Tutsi men, women and children of all ages butchered with machetes, guns and grenades.

At least 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis and some moderate Hutus, died in the killings.

Official mourning began three months ago with a flame of remembrance touring towns and villages across the small central African nation, and culminated on Monday when the torch arrived at the national genocide memorial -- where the remains of a quarter of a million people are stored in vast concrete tombs.

Kagame lit a flame that will burn for 100 days, the length of time it took government soldiers and "Hutu power" militiamen to carry out their plan to wipe out the "Inyenzi" -- a term meaning "cockroaches" that was used by Hutu extremists to designate minority Tutsis.

Wreathes were also laid, before ceremonies in Kigali's football stadium where the UN chief, several African heads of state and top diplomats from Europe and the United States were gathered.

At the national stadium, survivors of the genocide recounted their memories of the killings and of survival. Several people were overcome with trauma, screaming and crying uncontrollably with medical staff helping to carry them out and to provide counseling.

"It is the day when the faces of all those I loved and died come back," said Marie Muresyankwano, a mother in her thirties, adding she would watch events on television, but would otherwise spend time "with my own thoughts".

"It is so hard for the people, because it opens mental wounds, hearing the testimonies of those who survived, they are reminded of what happened to them," a Rwandan health ministry official said.

French officials, however, were absent, with French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira having pulled out over the weekend after Kagame repeated his accusation of French "participation" in the genocide.

Kagame said in an interview that French soldiers -- who helped train the Hutu nationalist-controlled Rwandan army prior to 1994, as well as being accused of aiding the killers to escape -- were both accomplices and "actors" in the bloodbath.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo also told France that it had to face up to the "difficult truth" over its involvement.

France's ambassador to Kigali, Michel Flesch, told AFP that he had been telephoned overnight and informed he was "no longer accredited for the ceremonies".

French authorities have repeatedly denied any direct involvement in the genocide, and, unlike former colonial power Belgium, has refused to apologise. In a statement, the French presidency said it "joins with the Rwandan people to honour the memories of all victims of the genocide".