Rwandan mayor cleared of genocide

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An international court has found a former Rwandan mayor not guilty of three charges of crimes against humanity related to the 1994 genocide.

Jean Mpambara becomes the fourth person to be acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

The judge pointed to "significant contradictions" in witness testimony during the trial.

Some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates were slaughtered during the 100-day genocide in 1994.

Mr Mpambara was arrested in a Tanzanian refugee camp in 2001, before being transferred to the ICTR in the Tanzanian town of Arusha.

He had been accused of "organising and executing" the killing of 2,500 Tutsis in the eastern Rukara commune where he was mayor.

ICTR chief prosecutor Hassan Jallow said prosecutors would study the ruling before deciding whether to appeal, reports the AP news agency.

The ICTR has convicted 25 people of genocide.