The war crimes trial of Congolese former warlord Bosco taganda, nicknamed "The Terminator", was postponed on Friday until September to give his lawyers a chance to prepare their case, the International Criminal Court said, News 24 reported.

"Today the Trial Chamber... postponed the opening statements in the Ntaganda case to 2 to 4 September," the Hague-based court said in a statement.

Ntaganda's lawyers filed a request on Monday for a postponement, saying the "necessary conditions were not in place to ensure a fair trial".

The lawyers added they were not in a position to make an opening statement or question the prosecution's first witness, who will now take the stand on September 15.

Ntaganda, a feared ex-general with a penchant for cowboy hats, fine dining and a pencil moustache, faces 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The charges centre around the violence in the northern Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002 and 2003 - when Ntaganda was leader of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo.

The former warlord is accused of atrocities, including raping child and women soldiers from his own rebel army and keeping them as sex slaves.