KIGALI, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Thursday, the first visit to the African country in 25 years by a French president some three years after the two sides cut off diplomatic ties over rows linked to the 1994 genocide.

The French president paid homage to the victims of the genocide in the memorial, before meeting with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame.

Relations between Kigali and Paris have been strained for years as Rwanda accused France of playing a role in the 1994 genocide, in which some 800,000 people, mainly minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus, were slaughtered.

Sarkozy's visit is also the first by a French president since the bloody massacre.

The tension culminated into the severance of diplomatic ties three years ago, after a French judge issued an indictment saying Kagame's entourage were involved in the assassination of former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana.