KIGALI, April 8 (Xinhuanet) -- As tens of thousands of Rwandans gathered Wednesday in the capital Kigali to remember the genocide in their country that claimed more than 800,000 lives 10 years ago,President Paul Kagame lashed out at Western countries for their indifference toward the genocide as it happened.

    The Rwandans observed three minutes of silence at noon to pay tribute to those slaughtered in one of the worst crimes of the 20th century.

    The genocide began shortly after the then Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana's plane was shot down by a missile on April 6,1994. All those aboard were killed.

    Rwandan Hutu extremists murdered 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus reluctant to kill their Tutsi fellows from April through July.     

    ANGRY KAGAME BLAMES WEST FOR INACTION

    Addressing a public ceremony in memory of the genocide victims in the Kigali National Stadium, Rwandan President Paul Kagame accused Western countries of adopting an indifferent attitude toward the 1994 genocide.

    "All these powerful nations regarded 1 million lives as valueless, as another statistic and could be dispensed with," Kagame said, referring to all those killed in Rwanda between 1990 and the end of the genocide in 1994.

    "If the death of a million people was not a concern to them, then what is?" Kagame asked.

    Earlier, Kagame officially inaugurated the Kigali Memorial Center in Gisozi, a village in Kigali, built in remembrance of those killed in the genocide.

    He stood solemnly aside as the remains of hundreds of genocide victims, retrieved from mass graves and now laid in 20 coffins, were buried in graves beside the main building of the center and he laid a wreath on the 20th coffin.

    Kagame then lit a flame in front of the center's main building that will burn 100 days to indicate the span of the genocide.

    In his speech, Kagame said the 1994 genocide is a tragedy for Rwanda but is also a failure of the international community in peacekeeping missions.

    The Western powers had the capacity to stop the killings, but they stood by with their arms folded, he said.

    Kagame singled France out in his criticism of Western countries,saying its role in what happened in Rwanda is "self-evident."

    "They knowingly trained and armed government soldiers and militia who were going to commit genocide, and they knew they would commit a genocide," Kagame said.     

    FRANCE ANGERED BY ACCUSATION

    French Junior Foreign Minister Renaud Muselier cut short his visit to Rwanda following Kagame's allegations of French involvement in the genocide.

    "We confirm that Renaud Muselier has cut short his visit and that he is on his way back to Paris," a spokeswoman for the FrenchForeign Ministry said in Paris.

    French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie rejected the accusations, saying they were "totally scandalous and unjust."

    "I am shocked to know that someone criticized their (French soldiers') action," the defense minister said.

    French soldiers acted totally in line with the United Nations' mandate, she said. "They truly did all they could to prevent an even more dramatic situation."

    France sent a 2,500-strong military-humane force "Turquoise" toRwanda at the time of the genocide to create a humane zone in southern Rwanda.     

    UN OBSERVES DAY OF REFLECTION

    At the UN headquarters in New York, UN Undersecretary-General Catherine Bertini rang the Japanese peace bell in front of the headquarters building and about 500 UN staffers observed a minute of silence.

    Hundreds of UN staffers gathered also in Kenya's capital Nairobi to observe the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda.

    UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is in Geneva, urged worldwide efforts to prevent recurrence of massacres like the one in Rwanda.

    Addressing the Geneva-based UN Commission on Human Rights, Annan said, "We must all acknowledge our responsibility for not having done more to prevent or stop the genocide."

    "We cannot afford to wait until the worst has happened, or is already happening, or end up with little more than futile hand-wringing or callous indifference," he said.

    Annan unveiled a five-point plan for the world body to prevent future genocide. Outlining his Action Plan to Prevent Genocide, Annan said the first step must be to prevent armed conflict by addressing the issues that cause it.

    "We must attack the roots of violence and genocide: hatred, intolerance, racism, tyranny, and the dehumanizing public discourse that denies whole groups of people their dignity and their rights," he said. Enditem