French President Nicolas Sarkozy has admitted on a visit to Rwanda that his country made mistakes during the genocide of 1994. France had considerable influence on Rwanda at the time, but underestimated the risk of genocide, the president said.

Although he only spent a few hours in Rwanda, Mr Sarkozy's visit was of great symbolic significance.

Rwanda severed all ties with France in 2006 after a French court said that supporters of the current Tutsi President Paul Kagamé were responsible for the murder of the then Hutu resident Juvénal Habyarimana in 1994. The murder triggered a bloodbath that cost the lives of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

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