The Rwandan government reacted with jubilation Wednesday after a report by French experts exonerated President Paul Kagame's entourage from involvement in an attack that triggered the 1994 genocide.

The shooting down of former president Juvenal Habyarimana's plane sparked the genocide that left 800,000 people, mainly minority Tutsis, dead, according to the UN.

Kigali said the findings "vindicated" its "long-held position" that the attack was carried out by Hutu extremists who thought Habyarimana was too moderate.

The experts appointed by two French investigating magistrates said the missiles that brought down the plane had been fired from Kanombe, a camp controlled by Habyarimana's army.

Their conclusions go against the theory of Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the first French magistrate tasked with the inquiry, opened in Paris because the crew on the plane were French nationals.

Bruguiere caused Rwanda to break off diplomatic relations with France when in 2006 he put out arrest warrants for nine officials in Kagame's entourage -- members of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebel movement that came to power in 1994 after defeating the extremist Hutu regime.

"It is now clear to all that the downing of the plane was a coup d'etat carried out by extremist Hutu elements and their advisors," Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said Wednesday.

"It clears those falsely accused of shooting down the plane and brings a decisive end to the lies and conspiracy theories that have, for far too long, tried to divert the world's attention from the actual authors of horrendous crimes that took place in Rwanda during the genocide."

Rwanda's two main opposition groups, both in exile, said they were not convinced by the new findings.

"Only an international inquiry composed by experts from different countries will pave the way to justice (hitherto) denied, the Unified Democratic Forces (UDF) and Rwanda National Congress (RNC) said in a joint statement, vowing to produce "very credible witnesses."

Theoneste Rudasingwa, a former senior aide to Kagame turned opponent, who last year accused his former boss of having shot down Habyarimana's plane, said the new findings "do not exonerate" the Rwandan president.

He emphasised that the two investigating magistrates have not yet given their final opinion and said that in the coming months, he will "do everything to get Paul Kagame to answer for his crimes."

A former Rwandan prime minister Faustin Twagiramungu, who heads another opposition party in exile, also expressed relief that "the enquiry continues."

"We continue to hope that the law will finish by establishing the truth," he said in a statement.