[Iran Press TV Latest] German prosecutors say police are holding two Rwandan militia leaders on suspicion of atrocities committed in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the years following the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that Ignace Murwanashyaka, the leader of Rwanda's Hutu FLDR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) rebels and his deputy Straton Musoni faced charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Murwanashyaka was seized in the western city of Karlsruhe, and his number two was picked up from Stuttgart. Both fled Rwanda to DR Congo after the massacre of some 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis.
Their presence in DR Congo has been the key igniter of years of unrest, leading to the formation of Congo-based Tutsi rebel groups battling their alleged advances.
Their FDLR has been known for its savage acts wherever it has been known to pass -- pillaging villages, mutilating locals, and raping women.
The arrests come amid UN-backed Congolese operations to uproot the FDLR since January. The FDLR has so far managed to remain active.
The FDLR is accused of financing its purchases of arms by smuggling gold and other minerals from areas under its control in the North and South Kivu provinces near the border with Rwanda.