French judicial officials on Wednesday charged a longtime comrade-in-arms of Rwanda`s president over an assassination in the run-up to the 1994 genocide, as anti-European protests unfolded in Kigali.

French judicial officials on Wednesday charged a longtime comrade-in-arms of Rwanda`s president over an assassination in the run-up to the 1994 genocide, as anti-European protests unfolded in Kigali.

Rose Kabuye, a close associate of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, was placed under judicial investigation Wednesday in France over the April 1994 assassination of then-president Juvenal Habyarimana that preceded the Rwandan genocide, a judicial source said.

Shares in French bank BNP Paribas fell on Wednesday on rumours over a possible capital increase and uncertainty over its acquisition of the Belgian operations of finance group Fortis.

Shares in BNP Paribas closed down 11.2 percent at 36.245 euros, taking losses so far this week to more than 22 percent.

Authorities in Ivory Coast on Wednesday issued an international arrest warrant against a witness in a French inquiry into the disappearance of a Canadian journalist, a lawyer said.

Reporter Guy-Andre Kieffer, 59, who also has French citizenship, disappeared in Ivory Coast in 2004 while researching a story on corruption in the west African state`s cocoa industry.

The European Union`s anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia -- its first-ever naval mission -- will begin on December 8, France`s defence minister said Wednesday.

Five or six warships will begin patrolling the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden from that date, said Herve Morin, whose country holds the EU`s rotating presidency.

The European Union`s anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia -- its first-ever naval mission -- will begin on December 8, France`s defence minister said Wednesday.

Five or six ships will begin patrolling the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden from that date, Herve Morin, whose country holds the EU`s rotating presidency, told reporters.

French officials took custody Wednesday of an old comrade-in-arms of Rwanda`s president charged over an assassination in the run-up to the 1994 genocide, amid mass anti-European protests in Kigali.

Tens of thousands of people took part Wednesday in the biggest demonstrations seen in Rwanda since the country`s 1994 genocide massacres, protesting against France`s charges against a top aide to President Paul Kagame.

French officials took custody Wednesday of an old comrade-in-arms of Rwanda`s president charged over an assassination in the run-up to the 1994 genocide, amid mass anti-European protests in Kigali.