CISA NEWS REPORT
KIGALI, March 19, 2013 (CISA) -Democratic Republic of Congo, M23 rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda, who was indicted on war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), turned himself in at the United States Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda on Monday March 18.
The announcement was made by Rwanda’s Foreign minister: “We have just learned that General Ntaganda presented himself at the US Embassy early this morning”. US authorities have released no confirmation so far.
Ntaganda, known as the ‘The Terminator’, was indicted by the Hague based court for conscripting and using child soldiers, murder, ethnic-based persecution and rape in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In November 2008, TV footage showed his men of the CNDP (National Congress for the Defence of the People) in the Kiwanja village, 90km north of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, where some 150 civilians were killed in a single day.
Ntaganda integrated into the Congolese army in 2009, but defected last April accusing Kinshasa authorities of failing to respect accords.
The Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende has expressed certainty that Ntaganda was among the rebels that in the past days have crossed over the border into Rwanda following the internal division of the M23 (March 23 Movement) and victory of the ‘moderate’ branch of the movement headed by Sultani Makenga.
Kigali and Kampala are accused of providing military, political and logistic support to the rebels active in DR-Congo, despite being part of the mediation for peace negotiations.
According to MISNA, his capture could mark an important step in the complicated peace process in the strife-ridden Kivu region.
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