The British government has pledged a total of 46 million pounds (about 81 million U.S. dollars) for Rwandan traditional courts of the 1994 genocide.

A British Member of Parliament, Andrew Mitchell who is the British Shadow Secretary for International Development, told reporters on Wednesday shortly after meeting Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

The semi-traditional tribunals code-named "gacaca" were set up to deal with the large number of those suspected to have taken part in the 1994 genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people lost their lives, most of them from the Tutsi minority.

Out of the 10,000 gacaca courts countrywide, only 118 are on the trial stage while the rest are still gathering evidence.

The two governments are engaged in negotiations aimed at signing a new Memorandum of Understanding to increase Britain's support to Rwanda.

The British government is satisfied with how Rwanda has been using the 100 million pounds (about 177 million U.S. dollars) donation since 1999 and is willing to give more financial support, Mitchell said, adding that Britain is dedicated to supporting Rwanda in peacekeeping, education and fighting the deadly epidemic of HIV/AIDS.

Source: Xinhua