In what’s being described as a stunning “reversal of fortune” rebel General Laurent Nkunda was arrested last night in the African nation of Rwanda.
The general crossed the border into Rwanda while attempting to resist arrest by a joint Rwandan-Congolese military force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This coalition consisted of more than 3,500 Rwandan soldiers who crossed into the region in order to assist the Congolese government in disarming the rebels. To avoid capture Nkunda sent three battalions to combat coalition forces near the Congolese town of Bunagana, a region considered to be the rebel’s primary stronghold, then tried to escape during the battle.
As recently as last week Nkunda was in charge of one of the strongest military forces in the DRC; seen as an important force in the region his stronghold witnessed a long line of foreign and local diplomats awaiting an audience with the general as if visiting a head of state. With a penchant for speaking in the third person and often preferring to be photographed holding a scepter topped with the silver plated head of an eagle, the Congolese Tutsi general is a complicated figure.
According to Reuters, the 42 year old general studied psychology and has been a soldier since 1993. He first fought with the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which took control of Rwanda in 1994, ending the genocide there. In 1998, he became a senior officer in the Rwandan-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma (RCD), the main rebel group which controlled most of eastern DRC during the five-year civil war. Nkunda was accused of committing atrocities in 2002 as an RCD commander in the town of Kisangani and as a result has been referred to as the “Butcher of Kisangani”.
By then a general, Nkunda led his own Congolese Tutsi rebellion in 2004 with approximately 4,000 soldiers under his command. As a result of atrocities provoked by this rebellion in the town of Bukavu an international arrest warrant was issued for him for supposed war crimes.
Nkunda called his Congolese rebel movement the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP). He initially said he was defending Congo's Tutsi minority, but indicated last year that he wanted to "liberate" all of the Congo and install a better government.
Nkunda’s rebels took center stage in the region this year as his forces wreaked havoc on the nation’s eastern border weakening the local government. Seen by many as a destabilizing force in an already volatile region the General’s capture is being received enthusiastically in many sectors. As of yet it is unsure whether or not Nkunda will be extradited and charged before an International Criminal Court.
By: Alberto Ramos Cordero
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
