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Rwanda Marks 11th Anniversary of Genocide

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President Paul Kagame and his wife Janette lay a wreath of flowers over the grave where some 300 bodies have been reburied Thursday in Murambi, eastern Rwanda

Rwanda has begun a week of mourning to mark the 11th anniversary of the 1994 genocide in which an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered.

Thursday, Rwandans reburied 250 genocide victims who were dumped in mass graves in the northeastern town of Murambi.

At the ceremony, Rwandan President Paul Kagame urged people to testify about the genocide before Rwanda's traditional tribunals.

He also called on Rwandans to learn from Pope John Paul II's teachings on peace Thursday, the eve of the late pope's funeral. Much of Rwanda's population is Catholic.

The 1994 genocide was sparked by the downing of the plane carrying Rwanda's Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana on the night of April 6. Hours later, ethnic Hutu extremists began their killing spree.

Some information for this story provided by Reuters, AP and AFP.

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