BRUSSELS - A Belgian officer has been acquitted by a military court on charges of accidental homicide connected with the deaths of 10 Belgian paratroopers serving under UN command in Rwanda in April 1994, writes Patrick Smyth.
Col Marchal had sent the patrol of 10 lightly armed men to provide an escort for the then prime minister, Ms Agatha Uwilingiyimana. The patrol and the prime minister were ambushed by Hutu soldiers and all massacred. Within days the country was plunged into genocidal conflict and the UN pulled out its small contingent.