Congo president calls for arrest of wanted warlord Bosco Ntaganda

KINSHASA, Congo – A spokesman for President Joseph Kabila says that the Congolese leader is calling for the arrest of warlord Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Kabila's director of communications, Andre Ngwej, told The Associated Press by telephone on Wednesday that the president made the call for Ntaganda's arrest during a meeting with community leaders in the country's remote east.

Ngwej said: "The president has just affirmed in front of the population of North Kivu that Bosco Ntaganda needs to be arrested and judged by Congo's military tribunal."

Ntaganda was first indicted on war crimes charges in 2006 by the ICC. The court has accused Ntaganda of using child soldiers for fighting in Ituri, in northeastern Congo, from 2002 to 2003. Kabila had previously refused to call for his arrest.