A 93-year-old former Belgian diplomat was ordered on Tuesday, March 17, to stand trial over the 1961 killing of Congolese independence icon Patrice Lumumba, in a decision hailed as a major step towards confronting the country's colonial past.

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Etienne Davignon, a one-time European commissioner and the only person still alive among 10 Belgians accused by the Congolese leader&039;s family of complicity in his murder, stands accused of participation in "war crimes".

The former prime minister's grandson, Mehdi Lumumba, welcomed the Brussels court decision -- which remains subject to appeal -- as "historic."

"We are all relieved," he told AFP. "Belgium is finally confronting its history."

If the trial goes ahead, Davignon would be the first Belgian official to face justice in the 65 years since Lumumba was executed and his body dissolved in acid.

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