The Rwandan government says French investigators have cleared aides of President Paul Kagame in the 1994 assassination of his predecessor.

A government statement Tuesday said the French inquiry into the killing of President Juvenal Habyarimana found that the missile which downed his plane came from a military barracks controlled by Hutu extremists, not Kagame-led Tutsi rebels.

A lawyer for the aides, Bernard Maingain, also said investigators have reached that conclusion.m There was no official confirmation from French judges or officials.

The April 1994 killing of Habyarimana over Kigali is considered the trigger for the Rwandan genocide, in which Hutu extremists killed an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and more moderate Hutus.

French judges ordered an investigation of the killing on the grounds that the pilots of the plane were French citizens.

The initial French investigation concluded that members of Kagame's group fired the missile. The accusation led to a temporary break in diplomatic ties between Rwanda and France.

Ties have gradually improved in the last few years.

The Rwandan government conducted its own investigation into the killing, which put the blame on Hutu extremists.

The government Tuesday said the new French findings constitute “vindication” for Rwanda's position on the assassination.