Emmanuel Macron: France bears 'overwhelming responsibility' for Rwanda genocide but not 'complicit'

French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday acknowledged France's "overwhelming responsibility" in failing to stop the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, saying it had ignored warnings of impending carnage to back a murderous regime.

While stopping short of issuing a formal apology, the 43-year old French leader said only Rwandans could forgive his country for its role in the massacre of 800,000 people, most of whom were from the ethnic Tutsi group.

"Standing here today, with humility and respect, by your side, I have come to recognise our responsibilities," said Mr Macron in a speech at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where more than 250,000 Tutsi people are buried.

France, he insisted, had a duty to admit the "suffering it inflicted on the Rwandan people by too long valuing silence over the examination of the truth".

Mr Macron is the first Gallic leader since 2010 to visit the East African nation, which has long accused France of complicity in the killing of some 800,000 mostly Tutsi Rwandans.

Mr Macron said France was not complicit in the genocide.

"The killers who stalked the swamps, the hills, the churches, did not have the face of France. France was not an accomplice," he said.

One Rwanda genocide survivors' group told AFP it regretted the lack of a "clear apology" from the French president.

But his comments went further than his predecessors when he said that only those who had survived the horrors "can maybe forgive, grant us the gift of forgiveness."

“I think that speech was a very strong speech because he asked for forgiveness in a subtle manner but in a strong manner. It was subtle but substantively strong,” Jean Paul Kimonyo, a former aide to Rwandan President Paul Kagame, told Reuters.

Mr Kagame, who has previously said France participated in the genocide, said last week that the report "meant a lot" to Rwandans.

Rwandans could "maybe not forget, but forgive," France for its role, he added.

On Thursday, Mr Macron said: "France didn't understand that by seeking to prevent a regional conflict or civil war, it stood de facto by a genocidal regime. By ignoring the warnings of the most lucid observers, France bore overwhelming responsibility in a spiral that led to the worst," he said.

"France has a role, a story and a political responsibility to Rwanda. She has a duty: to face history head-on and recognise the suffering she has inflicted on the Rwandan people by too long valuing silence over the examination of the truth".

Mr Macron today kicked off a highly symbolic two-country African tour.

The tone of his speech reflected closely the conclusions of an independent report released in April he commissioned and which concluded that France bore "heavy and overwhelming " responsibility for not doing more to stop the genocide but that it was not complicit in the slaughter.

Shortly afterwards Rwanda released its own report that found France was aware a genocide was being prepared and bore responsibility for enabling it, continuing in its unwavering support for Rwanda's then president, Juvenal Habyarimana.

It was the shooting down of Mr Habyarimana's plane that unleashed the 100-day frenzy of killings.

"French officials armed, advised, trained, equipped, and protected the Rwandan government," the report concluded, adding that France covered up its role for years.

Observers said that while the trip will draw criticism from critics of Rwanda's authoritarian regime, it will help to "normalise relations" with the country after decades of frosty ties.

On Friday, the Elysée Palace said Mr Macron would name a new ambassador to Rwanda, the first accredited French envoy since 2015.