The UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Congo (MONUC) has said that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) still gives sanctuary to over 8,500 extremist Hutu militias involved in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, a state-run newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The report said that the number of the militias, known as the Interahamwe, had increased after they recruited young men who crossed to the DRC in 1994 aged between 8-10 years.

The Interahamwe mostly around south Kivu region bordering Rwanda also recruited into their ranks the genocide suspects who escaped and crossed to the DRC after being released from prison onpresidential pardon.

Asked for a comment, Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Muligandesaid the report concerning the big number of the militias is "not a surprise."

He however warned that although they had not received the report, the government would still "not tolerate their hostile plans."

The Interahamwe has been reportedly involved in a recent massacre of over 150 people in a Burundi refugee camp.

An estimated 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus, were killed in the genocide in 1994, which was organized by extremist Hutus in Rwanda in the space of just 100 days.

Source: Xinhua