Most Wanted - Thursday, April 30, 2009 7:45 - 0 Comments

Congo ex-rebel ‘working with UN’

Bosco Ntaganda has been indicted for allegedly recruiting child soldiers

An indicted war criminal is playing a leading role in the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to documents seen by the BBC.

A Congolese army paper suggests ex-rebel leader Gen Bosco Ntaganda has a major part in the command chain, says a BBC correspondent in the country.

The UN-Congolese force is fighting Hutu rebels in the eastern DR Congo.

The force says Congolese authorities have given assurances that Gen Ntaganda is not involved in joint operations.

Gen Ntaganda – known as “the Terminator” – is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged forced enrolment of child soldiers in 2002-2003.

‘No name’

The BBC’s Thomas Fessy in the capital, Kinshasa, has seen an internal Congolese army document, dated 4 April 2009, which refers to Gen Ntaganda as the deputy co-ordinator for the joint mission’s operations.

Rather than denying or ignoring the role being played by Bosco Ntaganda, the UN should be actively seeking his arrest and transferring him to The Hague Anneke Van Woudenberg Human Rights Watch Q&A: DR Congo conflict Congo conflict in a beer can

Our correspondent says the paper – which notes that Gen Ntaganda spoke during an operations meeting – proves he is playing a major role in the chain of command.

A high-ranking Congolese army official confirmed the former rebel leader was involved in the operations, describing him as an adviser to the operations commander.

The UN’s peacekeeping force in DR Congo, which is known as Monuc, denied the report.

“Monuc has been in very close touch with the Congolese authorities working with the Congolese military,” spokesman Kevin Kennedy told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.

“A document has been shared with Monuc concerning the command for the operations that Monuc is working on with the FADRC (Congolese national army).

“Bosco Ntaganda’s name does not appear on that document, so we have from our Congolese counterparts an assurance that he is not part of the command.” Continue…