Congolese war crimes suspect Ntaganda in ICC custody

Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda was on Friday being flown to the International Criminal Court, where he was expected to face trial on war crimes charges, nearly seven years after a manhunt for him began, according to dpa. Ntaganda walked into the US Embassy in Kigali this week and asked to be transferred to the court in The Hague, where has been wanted since 2006 for crimes including recruiting child soldiers, organizing sexual slavery and murder during the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 'General Ntaganda took off from Kigali airport this afternoon in the custody of ICC officials who arrived in Rwanda on Thursday night,' the Rwandan government said in a statement. 'This is a good day for victims in DRC (Congo) and for international justice,' said Fatou Bensouda, the ICC chief prosecutor. 'Today those who are alleged to have long suffered at the hands of Bosco Ntaganda can look forward to the future and the prospect of justice taking its course,' she said. Neither Rwanda nor the United States are parties to the ICC treaty, but they pledged to cooperate with the court on Ntaganda's case.