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Monday 18 March 2013

Bosco Ntaganda: Wanted Congolese 'in US mission in Rwanda'

Bosco Ntaganda: Wanted Congolese 'in US mission in Rwanda'

Bosco Ntaganda in  eastern  DR Congo in January 2009Bosco Ntaganda has been wanted by the ICC since 2006




Democratic Republic of Congo war crimes suspect Bosco Ntaganda is believed to have handed himself over to the US embassy in Kigali, Rwanda's foreign minister has said.

"We have learned today [Monday] that Bosco Ntaganda entered Rwanda and surrendered to [the] US Embassy in Kigali," Louise Mushikiwabo said.

Gen Ntaganda denies charges made by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The US state department said it could not confirm Ms Mushikiwabo's claim.

Gen Ntaganda, known to his critics as "The Terminator", faces charges of conscripting child soldiers, murder, ethnic persecution and rape in eastern DR Congo.

He has fought in several different rebel groups, as well as the national armies of both Rwanda and DR Congo.

In November 2008, international journalists filmed him commanding and ordering his troops in the village of Kiwanja, 90km (55 miles) north of Goma, where 150 people were massacred in a single day.

In 2009, he was integrated into the Congolese national army and made a general following a peace deal between the government and rebel troops he commanded.

However, he defected from the army last April, accusing the government of failing to meet its promises.

DR Congo's government had repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing Gen Ntaganda, an allegation it denies.

His military career started in 1990, at the age of 17, when he joined the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebels, now the ruling party in Kigali.

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