Rwandan Rebel To Face ICC Trial

Callixte Mbarushimana

ered the extradition of Rwandan rebel leader Callixte Mbarushimana to face trial at the International Criminal Court.

Mr Mbarushimana is accused of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

His ethnic Hutu FDLR group is one of several groups accused of atrocities in eastern DR Congo, near Rwanda.

Arrested in France last month, he has previously denied war crimes charges.

The Paris court approved his transfer to The Hague's ICC "on condition that under no circumstances should Mr Mbarushimana be taken back by any means to Rwanda".

Powerful force
His lawyers had tried to block the ICC warrant, arguing it could be a first step towards sending him back to Rwanda, where they say he would not get a fair trial.

After a Tutsi-dominated group took power in Rwanda, Mr Mbarushimana's FDLR group fled into what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, sparking years of unrest in the region.

They are now one of the most powerful rebel forces operating in the east of the country, where they are believed to make millions of dollars a year by controlling mines rich in gold and other minerals, and extorting money from local people.

Mr Mbarushimana, who has been living in Paris, has described the force as a freedom movement, fighting "to liberate the Rwandan people from the yoke of the fascist regime" of the governing Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).