( CNN ) -- A Rwandan accused of `` complicity '' in the massacre of students at the college he headed during the country 's genocide 15 years ago has been arrested in Italy , where he served as a clergyman , an international police agency said . Officers from the Italian Carabinieri and Interpol 's National Central Bureau in Rome , Italy , arrested Emmanuel Uwayezu -- who had been wanted in Rwanda , the international police organization Interpol said Wednesday in a news release . Uwayezu , 47 , is accused of genocide , conspiracy to commit genocide , complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity . He is in Italian custody and is awaiting extradition to Rwanda . According to Interpol 's statement , the Rwandan arrest warrant says Uwayezu was alleged `` to have acted individually and as part of a conspiracy to plan and commit genocide by instigating Hutus to kill Tutsis in the area of Gikongoro , as director of the Groupe Scolaire Marie Merci college in Kibeho . '' He is accused of `` participating in meetings with government and military authorities which allegedly planned the extermination of the Tutsi ethnic group '' and `` complicity in the massacre of some 80 students in May 1994 in the college which he headed . '' Uwayezu arrived in Italy in 1997 , took an alias , and was working as a vicar at the Church in Empoli commune near Florence when he was seized , Interpol said . The man was identified after Interpol 's fugitives unit received information and pictures from Rwandan authorities . The Archdiocese of Florence issued a statement about the arrest two days ago , saying it hopes the justice system will come up with the truth about the case . But , it said , `` we stand by the fact that Don Emmanuel has always declared his estrangement to the events in question and we accompany him in prayers . '' One Italian news report noted that Uwayezu is a priest of Hutu ethnicity and lived and worked as vice-parish priest in Ponzano , part of the county of Empoli . Don Guido Engels , the head of the parish and a priest , told the ASCA news agency that `` Don Emmanuel never cultivated feelings towards another ethnic group . He always wanted peace . '' `` The arrest of Uwayezu demonstrates the power and effectiveness of international co-operation between police worldwide in obtaining information in relation to the identification , location and apprehension of fugitives around the world , '' said Jean-Michel Louboutin , Interpol 's executive director of police services . `` This operation is a credit to law enforcement officers and agencies in Italy and Rwanda . '' Two years ago , Interpol created a unit dedicated to searching for fugitives in the genocide who were wanted by Rwanda and the U.N.-sponsored International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda . So far , seven people wanted by Rwanda and five wanted by the tribunal have been arrested . Police in Uganda recently arrested and extradited a man who is among the most wanted suspects from the Rwandan genocide . Idelphonse Nizeyimana was picked up at a hotel in Rubaga , a suburb of the capital , Kampala . The arrest , by Ugandan police , was part of an operation between the tribunal , Ugandan authorities , and Interpol . Nizeyimana was transferred Tuesday to a U.N. detention facility in Arusha , Tanzania , where the tribunal is based . The 1994 Rwandan genocide left an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead over a 100-day period , the United Nations and Interpol say . Millions more were raped and disfigured , and nearly an entire generation of children lost their parents .
Emmanuel Uwayezu accused of genocide . Alleged to be part of a conspiracy to kill Tutsis . Uwayezu arrived in Italy in 1997 ; working as a priest . Interpol ID 's him after receiving information from Rwanda .