Police in Belgium have arrested a Rwandan man who is wanted on charges of taking part in the Rwandan genocide seven years ago.

The man, Protais Zigiranyirazo, is accused of being a key member of a death squad called the Zero Network which according to Belgian reports began operating in about 1992 and is thought to have helped plan the genocide.

The 63-year-old whose reported nickname was "Monsieur Z", was arrested at the request of the United Nations criminal tribunal on Rwanda and is expected to be extradited to Tanzania, where the tribunal sits, to face trial.

He was the brother-in-law of theformer Rwandan President JuvenalHabyarimana, whose death in a plane crash in 1994 triggered months of frenzied killings which claimed the lives of up to 800,000 Rwandans.

Justice

Mr Zigiranyirazo came to Belgium nearly two months ago seeking asylum and had been held in a detention centre until his arrest.


Last month a Belgian court found four Rwandans guilty of war crimes, including two nuns, under a new law which allows courts in Belgium to try war crimes suspects, no matter where the alleged crimes occurred.

Since starting proceedings in 1994 the ICTR has found eight people guilty of genocide and last month reached its first not guilty verdict.

The tribunal has been dogged by criticism since it was set up to investigate and try those responsible for the genocide.

Earlier this month four defence investigators working for the United Nations tribunal for Rwanda were revealed to be under suspicion themselves of involvement in the 1994 genocide and were suspended or had their contracts not renewed.