France, March 17 -- Belgian prosecutors have moved a step closer to putting a former senior official on trial over the 1961 killing of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, in a case that many see as a landmark moment in Europe's reckoning with its colonial past.

Etienne Davignon, now the only surviving Belgian among 10 individuals accused by Lumumba's family of involvement in the murder, is facing allegations of participation in war crimes. Tuesday's decision to pursue the case - still subject to appeal - has been welcomed by Lumumba's relatives as a long-awaited breakthrough.

"We are all relieved," Lumumba's grandson, Mehdi Lumumba, told reporters, describing the development as "historic". He added that Belgium was "finally confronting it...