afrol News, 3 March - The Rwandan government has put the former rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda under house arrest in western town of Giseny, President Paul Kagame has announced.

Mr Nkunda was arrested on 22 January on the Rwandan territory after trying to resist an arrest by the joint Rwandan-Congolese operation in the eastern part of the country which began the operation in DRC’s eastern Kivu province over a month ago.

The local news agency, reported President Kagame saying his government has engaged Kinshasa government in talks for the extradition of Mr Nkunda, saying once DRC stabilises, the Rwandan government will facilitate the extradition.

DRC which has been seeking the extradition of General Nkunda since his arrest last month has invited Rwandan troops to enter its territory as part of an agreement to disarm the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda in the forests of the eastern province.

Mr Nkunda, who was ousted as leader of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) in January had claimed to be fighting to protect the region's ethnic Tutsi minority from Hutu militias that took refuge there after participating in the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda.

The CNDP launched a major offensive in August 2008.

The upsurge in fighting in North Kivu province bordering Rwanda and growing involvement of neighbouring states in moves to end the conflict had raised fears of a repeat of the 1998 to 2003 DRC war.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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