In 1994 a genocide occurred in Rwanda, resulting in the deaths of some 800,000–1,000,000 people. Major's government has come in for criticism in the way it responded to the killings, with declassified intelligence documents revealing that Britain was aware of the impending bloodbath, but along with the US sought to block the use of the word 'genocide' to describe the killings (which would have obligated intervention) and even to scale back the UN peacekeeping force (UNAMIR) in the country. Rwanda was deemed to be a small, remote country of no strategic value to Britain, nor indeed of any great interest to the press or public, and one furthermore that lay in France's 'sphere of influence' in Africa. Though a small contingent of British troops (under Operation Gabriel) was deployed to Rwanda in support of UNAMIR in late July 1994, by then the worst of the killing had already ended. President Clinton later apologised for his inaction during the genocide, though Major did not, and no mention of Rwanda is made in his memoirs.