Feared Congo Warlord Arrested in Rwanda
Tutsi warlord is arrested by his old ally, Rwanda.
NAIROBI, Kenya Jan. 23, 2009— -- When the news broke that General Laurent Nkunda, the leader of the Tutsi rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo, had been arrested, the response from the international community was both applause and trepidation.
Nkunda has been a major player in the civil war in Eastern Congo since the 1990s. He's seen as media-friendly and charismatic; he was once interviewed for "Nightline" by the movie star Ben Affleck.
He's also extremely dangerous. His fighters in the Congress for the National Defense of the People (CNDP) say that they are protecting the Tutsi minority in Eastern Congo from Hutu force known as the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR). Most of the FDLR fled neighboring Rwanda after being perpetrators of the country's notorious 1994 genocide of their Tutsi neighbors.
Whatever his stated purpose, the reality of Nkunda's actions is that he is accused of ordering heinous war crimes against civilians and plundering Eastern Congo's numerous resources, according to Human Rights Watch and other humanitarian organizations.
Despite his insistence that he is a liberator, most experts and aid organizations consider him a warlord and see his arrest as a positive development for accountability and justice in the conflict.
They see particular justice in the fact that Nkunda was arrested in Rwanda, a country that has been an important ally for Nkunda for decades.
But Rwanda didn't turn on the rebel leader for nothing. In return for handing over DRC President Joseph Kabila's No. 1 nemesis, it appears that Rwandan troops have been given the go-ahead to hunt down the FDLR.
Last week about 4,000 Rwandan troops crossed the border and are fighting alongside Congolese troops in Hutu-rebel dominated areas. Cooperation between Rwanda and the DRC, sworn enemies up to this point, is also seen as a potentially positive development.
Analysts like Guillame Lacaille of the International Crisis Group do have concerns, however: If Rwandan troops, which invaded the area in the 1990s, stay too long they will be seen as occupiers again, spurring the rebel groups to fight harder and upsetting the general population.
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