A Swede of Rwandan origin was charged Friday with genocide and war crimes after having been convicted in his absence in Rwanda for involvement in the country's 1994 genocide, the Stockholm prosecutor's office said.

The suspect, who had lived in Sweden since 2002 and was naturalized in 2012, is suspected of being a low-level official involved in the murders, attempted murders and kidnappings of Tutsis.

The United Nations said Sunday it is investigating a shooting rampage that left five Rwandan peacekeepers dead in the Central African Republic, in what Kigali said appeared to be a terrorist act.

The U.N. mission here, known by its French acronym MINUSCA, issued a statement describing the shooting Saturday at the Rwandan contingent's base in the capital Bangui as an "unprecedented incident since the start of the (CAR) mission in 2014."

Rwandan lawmakers began a national tour Monday consulting people on possible constitutional changes to allow strongman Paul Kagame a third term in power, parliament speaker Donatilla Mukabalisa said.

Last week both houses in parliament voted in support of a constitutional change, backing a petition signed by millions of citizens.

Rwandan lawmakers voted Tuesday in support of a constitutional change to allow strongman Paul Kagame a third term in power as president, backing a petition signed by millions of citizens.

The crowded parliament, packed with members of the public who had come to watch, cheered and chanted Kagame's name after all lawmakers present in both the lower and upper houses voted in the first step of the process for constitutional change.

Burundian soldiers clashed with gunmen Friday in a northern region near Rwanda, a local official and the military said, in the latest violence ahead of controversial elections due next week.

The crisis in Burundi revolves around President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid to stand for a third straight five-year term, which his opponents say is unconstitutional and violates a peace deal that ended a dozen years of civil war in 2006.

Rwandan lawmakers will debate on Tuesday possible changes to the constitution to allow strongman Paul Kagame a third term in power as president, parliament said Friday.

Over 3.7 million people -- well over half of voters -- have signed a petition calling for a change of Article 101 of the constitution, which limits the president to two terms, according to Rwandan media.

Burundi journalist union president Alexandre Niyungeko sits at a computer in a cafe in Rwanda. He should be busy covering his country's key parliamentary elections on Monday.

Yet, like scores of fellow journalists, as well as civil society activists and opposition politicians, he fled weeks of pre-election unrest to Kigali, capital of neighboring Rwanda.

A British court on Thursday granted bail to Rwandan intelligence chief Karenzi Karake after President Paul Kagame slammed his arrest as "absolute arrogance."

Karake, who was arrested last week at London Heathrow Airport on a Spanish-issued warrant, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court in the British capital wearing a yellow and green jumpsuit.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame launched a furious attack on Western countries on Thursday after the arrest in Britain of the country's intelligence chief.

"Absolute arrogance and contempt is the only basis for this arrest," Kagame said in a speech to parliament.

Hundreds of Rwandan protestors marched on the British embassy in the capital Kigali Wednesday demanding London release their spy chief, arrested at the weekend for alleged crimes following the 1994 genocide.

British police detained 54-year-old general Karenzi Karake at Heathrow airport on Saturday on a Spanish arrest warrant that was issued as part of an investigation into alleged crimes during and after the Rwanda conflict, including the murder of Spanish aid workers.