Authorities in Belgium say the body of a man found in a canal has been identified as a Rwandan war crimes suspect who went missing last month.
Former Rwandan government minister Juvenal Uwilingiyimana had been indicted on charges of genocide, and faced trial at a United Nations tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania.
The tribunal prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow said Friday that police found the body in a Brussels canal last Saturday. The remains were so badly decomposed that it took five days to identify them. Investigators have yet to announce the cause of death.
The prosecutor said the Rwandan official had voluntarily agreed to cooperate with the U.N. tribunal, even though he feared retribution from Rwandan exiles. The prosecutor called Mr. Uwilingiyimana's death a setback to seeking justice for victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which left 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.