Congo rebel leader Nkunda arrested in Rwanda

Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda salutes during a rally in Rutshuru, 70 km north of Goma in eastern Congo, in this November 22, 2008 file photo.

GOMA, Congo (Reuters) - Rwanda and Congo on Friday announced the arrest in Rwandan territory of Congolese Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda during a joint military operation against rebels on their Great Lakes border.

Nkunda has led a Tutsi rebellion in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since 2004 and is wanted for war crimes.

Congo's government said they would seek Nkunda's extradition from Rwanda and that his detention could end the activity of one of the most powerful and feared eastern rebel groups, recently split by a leadership dispute.

Congolese and Rwandan military commanders said Nkunda was detained after he and three battalions of his fighters tried to resist the joint Congolese-Rwandan operation which was launched this week to hunt Rwandan Hutu militiamen operating in Congo.

In the operation, marking unprecedented cooperation between the Great Lakes neighbours after years of mutual suspicion and hostility, more than 3,500 Rwandan troops have crossed the border into Congo.

Wars, rebellions and ethnic violence since 1998 have killed more than 5 million Congolese, holding back the development of the huge former Belgian colony in central Africa, which is rich in minerals such as copper, cobalt, coltan, gold and uranium.

"Ex-general Laurent Nkunda was arrested on Thursday, January 22 at 2230 hours while he was fleeing on Rwandan territory after he had resisted our troops at Bunagana with three battalions," Congolese and Rwandan military commanders said in a statement.

Rwandan military spokesman Jill Rutaremara said Nkunda was being held at Gisenyi by Rwandan authorities.

A Congolese army colonel, who asked not to be named, said Nkunda and rebels loyal to him had fought against Rwandan and Congolese troops when they arrived on Thursday at Bunagana, a town on the border with Uganda in Congo's North Kivu province.

But a rebel associate of Nkunda, Jean-Desire Muiti, disputed the account of his arrest, saying the rebel leader had gone to Rwanda late on Thursday after being "called for consultations".

Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende told Reuters Congo would seek Nkunda's extradition.

"There is a Congolese arrest warrant against him. He is Congolese. He committed his crimes in Congo. So it is normal that he would be judged in Congo," Mende said.

He earlier told the BBC that with the arrest, Nkunda's rebellion was "over or ending".

WAR CRIMES

Nkunda's leadership of his Tutsi National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) rebel group had been challenged this year by dissident rebel commanders who last week ended hostilities with the Congolese government.

Human rights groups said they would be watching how Rwanda and Congo dealt with Nkunda. His fighters are accused of mass killings and rapes, and recruitment of child soldiers.

"Nkunda and troops under his command have certainly committed serious atrocities, and he needs to be held to account in a trial that meets fair trial standards," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Congo researcher with Human Rights Watch.

"He must be brought back to Congo and face justice for his acts, because he is responsible for many deaths due to the war he waged," said local Congolese pastor Crispin Kombozi.

The joint Rwandan-Congolese operation to try to disarm Rwandan Hutu FDLR rebels follows heavy international pressure for an end to more than a decade of conflict in Congo's east.

Congo had in the past accused Rwanda's government of backing Nkunda, while Rwanda had denounced Congolese army cooperation with the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda).

Many of the FDLR's 6,000 fighters took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide in which Hutu soldiers and militia slaughtered 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The FDLR presence in east Congo haas been widely viewed as a root cause of the violence there.

Late last year, Nkunda, who said his rebels were fighting to defend Congo's Tutsi minority against the FDLR, led his CNDP guerrillas in a big anti-government offensive in North Kivu province which displaced more than a quarter of a million civilians, creating a humanitarian emergency.

The United Nations, which has 17,000-strong peacekeeping force in Congo that has been largely excluded from the joint Congolese-Rwandan anti-rebel operation, has expressed fears that civilians could suffer if fresh fighting breaks out.