Senegal and the United Nations (UN) have signed an agreement that will ensure enforcement of sentences handed down by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

According to Bocar Sy, the Chief of Public Affairs and Information Unit at the ICTR, the agreement was signed on Monday in Dakar, Senegal.

"Yes, the agreement was signed on Monday,” he said in an interview yesterday, adding that the move cannot immediately come into force until a decision has been made by the ICTR President.

The agreement was signed by the ICTR Registrar, Adama Dieng and Senegalese Minister of Justice, Cheikh Tidiane Sy.

"It cannot be automatic because it is the President who decides the country where ICTR prisoners should serve their sentence,” Bocar said.

Senegal becomes the eighth country to sign the agreement after Rwanda, Mali, Benin, Swaziland, Italy, France and Sweden.

Agencies said yesterday that a jail-house where ICTR convicts could be hosted has already been identified in Dakar.

The ICTR has so far completed 52 cases, with 36 convictions,

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