Congo ex-warlord sent to international court

KINSHASA (Reuters) - A former Congo warlord was flown tothe International Criminal Court in The Hague on Thursday toface war crimes charges including murder, sexual slavery andusing child soldiers, a court spokesman said.

Mathieu Ngudjolo was the head of the Front of Nationalistsand Integrationists (FPI) militia during conflict in northeastIturi Province that grew out Congo's 1998-2003 war.

He was arrested by Congolese authorities on Wednesday andhanded over to ICC custody.

"He left very early this morning ... escorted by a securitydetail from the ICC," Paul Madidi, the court's spokesman inDemocratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa, told Reuters.

Ngudjolo is the third Ituri warlord to be transferred tothe

ICC.

Another Congolese militia chief, Thomas Lubanga, was takeninto custody by the court in 2006 and his trial is due to starton March 31. He is accused of recruiting children under the ageof 15 to kill members of another ethnic group.

The ICC is also in the process of prosecuting GermainKatanga, another Ituri ex-militia leader who is accused ofmurder, sexual slavery and using child soldiers.

Ngudjolo's arrest comes as the government of PresidentJoseph Kabila is attempting to bring to an end a decade ofviolence in Congo that experts estimate has killed 5.4 millionpeople, mainly through hunger and disease.

Last month, the government signed peace deals with 25 armedgroups, including renegade General Laurent Nkunda's Tutsiinsurgency, in a bid to finally stabilise the east, wherefighting has continued despite the end to the broader war.

CHILD SOLDIERS

Ngudjolo was one of three Ituri warlords to sign a similarpeace agreement with the government in 2006, promising todisarm in return for officers' commissions in the Congolesearmy.

He was officially made a colonel as part of the deal andflew to Kinshasa late last year to begin officer training.Unlike Lubanga and Katanga, he was not being held in detentionby Congolese authorities when he was handed over to the ICC.

"Ngudjolo's arrest shows that justice will reach those whoseem untouchable because of their official position,"Param-Preet Singh, a lawyer with New York based Human RightsWatch (HRW), said in a statement on Thursday.

The Ituri conflict, which raged well after a wider peaceaccord officially ended the 1998-2003 war, pittedforeign-backed militias from the Hema and Lendu ethnic groupsagainst one another. The fighting in Ituri killed over 70,000people.

The international court plans to prosecute Ngudjolo onthree counts of crimes against humanity and six counts of warcrimes.

"(Ngudjolo) attacked primarily the Hema ethnic group withthe participation of children under the age of 15. He isresponsible for the murders of 200 civilians, looting, andreducing women and girls to sexual slavery," Madidi said.

While welcoming the move to send Ngudjolo to The Hague,HRW's Singh said the court must extend its investigation intocrimes into Ituri to include those responsible for backing thewarlords both militarily and financially.

"The three rebel leaders held by the ICC did not act alonein terrorising civilians in Ituri," she said.

"The ICC prosecutor should investigate their links toofficials in Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda, who might also beresponsible for atrocities."

(Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Philippa Fletcher)

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