The memorial center was built in commemoration of some 250,000 people who died in the massacre that swept the tiny central African country from April to July 1994. As many as one million people, mostly Tutsis, were killed by Hutu militia.

    Kagame laid the 20th coffin into the graves beside the main building of the center after some youngsters laid other 19 coffinsone by one into the graves.

    On all coffins were laid a wreath and a cross, which symbolizessorrow and missing of those dead by their family members.

    A group of young girls sang folk songs in local language as President Kagame, his counterparts from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Retired Gen. Romeo Dallaire of Canada, who led the UN peacekeeping troops in Rwanda when the genocide occurred, stood solemnly beside the coffins.

    Relatives of those dead were also around the coffins, with flowers or the photos of their beloved who lost their lives in those horrible days.

    After the coffin laying, Kagame, accompanied by the dignitaries,went up to the small square in front of the center's main buildingto light a torch symbolizing the Rwandan people's aspiration for peace and unity.

    Kagame and invited guests visited the memorial center and looked the displayed photos and documents about those terrible days that Rwandans experienced 10 years ago.

    The opening of the memorial center is the first part of Kigali's one-day commemoration for those victims of the 1994 genocide in this landlocked country.

    A grand ceremony, also known as National Reflection, is still on in the Kigali National Stadium. Enditem