DHAKA: The French ambassador to Rwanda said on Monday he has been barred from attending events marking the 20th anniversary of the genocide, amid a major diplomatic row surrounding France’s controversial role in the events of 1994.

‘Yesterday night the Rwandan foreign ministry telephoned to inform me that I was no longer accredited for the ceremonies,’ the French ambassador, Michel Flesch, told media, reports The Straits Times.

French justice minister Christiane Taubira pulled out of attending Monday’s events after Rwandan president Paul Kagame repeated his accusation of French ‘participation’ in the murder of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis.

France, an ally of the Hutu nationalist government prior to the 1994 killings, has repeatedly denied any complicity in the genocide.

BDST: 1430 HRS, APR 07, 2014