Congo suspect to face war crimes charges

A Congolese militia leader accused of conscripting children for war will be the first suspect to face trial at the International Criminal Court, the chief prosecutor of the ICC said yesterday. Thomas Lubanga arrived at an ICC temporary detention centre...

A Congolese militia leader accused of conscripting children for war will be the first suspect to face trial at the International Criminal Court, the chief prosecutor of the ICC said yesterday.

Thomas Lubanga arrived at an ICC temporary detention centre late on Friday having been flown from the Democratic Republic of Congo aboard a French military plane one day after Congolese authorities surrendered him to the court.

"Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was transferred to The Hague and is now in the custody of the Court," the ICC's Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told a news conference.

Lubanga was the founder and leader of one of the most dangerous militia in Congo's lawless northeastern district of Ituri, Moreno-Ocampo said.

He has been charged with enlisting children under the age of 15 as soldiers but investigations continue and more charges could be brought as prosecutors probe years of militia violence in Ituri which has killed tens of thousands of people.

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