Rwandan-born former Congolese general Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the International Criminal Court for suspected war crimes in Congo, has given himself up at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said on Monday.
“We have learned today that Bosco Ntaganda entered Rwanda and surrendered to (the) U.S. Embassy in Kigali,” she posted on Twitter.
The U.S. State Department confirmed on Monday that Ntaganda has given himself up at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali.
“I can confirm that this morning Bosco Ntaganda, and ICC indictee and leader of one of the M23 factions, walked into U.S. Embassy Kigali,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
“He specifically asked to be transferred to the ICC in the Hague. We are currently consulting with a number of governments, including the Rwandan government, in order to facilitate his request.”
A year-long insurgency in a resource-rich Congolese province by M23 rebels was partly triggered by President Joseph Kabila’s plan to arrest Ntaganda on the international charges. Ntaganda was integrated into the Congolese army with insurgents as part of a 2009 peace deal.
The ICC has been seeking Ntaganda’s arrest since 2006, but Kabila resisted acting on the warrant until April last year, saying Ntaganda was a linchpin in the fragile peace.
With files from Star wire services