UN court sentenced a former Rwandan military officer to life in prison on Thursday for organizing of 1994 genocide, according to agencies.

The Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) accused former army colonel Theoneste Bagosora of being having masterminded the 1994 Rwandan genocide, said reports.

"Bagosora is guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity and war crimes," the ICTR said.

Bagosora would appeal the verdict, his lawyer said after the sentence.

The UN tribunal last month got its mandate extended by the United Nations Security Council to the end of next year instead of to the end of this year to allow it hear all pending cases of genocide suspects.

The tribunal was established in 1995 to prosecute suspects of the 1994 Rwanda genocide that claimed more than 800,000 lives.

Though the United Nations had an agreement with Tanzania that no convicted person should remain on the host country's soil, there are now still 17 convicted persons who are waiting for a host country.

The massacres took place in 1994 after the Rwandan president's plane was mysteriously shot down over Kigali as he returned home from peace talks with Tutsi-led rebels.

(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2008)