French President, Emmanuel Macron, on Thursday said only Rwandans could forgive France for its role in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

“On this path, only those who went through that night can perhaps forgive, give us the gift of forgiving,” Macron said in a speech at the genocide memorial of Gisozi in Kigali, where more than 250,000 Tutsi are buried.

France did not listen to those who warned it about the impending massacre in Rwanda and stood de facto by a genocidal regime, Macron said.

But France “was not an accomplice” to the genocide, Macron added.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday arrived Rwanda in a bid to normalise relations between the two countries.

Macron, others to attend late Déby’s funeral on Friday

The relationship that had been clouded for years over France’s actions in the 1994 genocide in the East African nation that left 800,000 people dead.

It’s Macron’s first visit to the country since taking office.

He expressed hope before departing for a new beginning in the relations.

After meeting with President Paul Kagame, he will visit a memorial for victims of the genocide, which saw representatives of the Hutu majority kill members of the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus.

A commission of historians recently concluded that France bore a heavy responsibility for the genocide; one of the conclusions was that Paris had remained blind to preparations for the killings.

However, there was no evidence of France’s complicity in the deaths.

Macron is scheduled to continue on to South Africa on Friday.