Callixte Mbarushimana, who spent 11 months in detention, was the first war crimes suspect to be arrested and freed without trial since the court began work in 2002 as the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal.

The court said Mbarushimana, who had lived in Paris before his arrest, was "released on French territory, as he requested" through the cooperation of the Netherlands and France.

Mbarushimana was charged with five counts of murder, rape, torture and persecution allegedly committed by Rwandan rebels in neighboring Congo.

In a 2-1 decision, pretrial judges ruled last week that the evidence against him was insufficient to warrant a trial, and ordered him freed.

Prosecutors lost an appeal last Tuesday, but his release was delayed because he was still the subject of a UN travel ban. France asked for a delay to allow time to clear his transfer with the UN Sanctions Committee.