21.03.13 - RWANDA/ICC - KAGAME PROMISES TO ASSIST TRANSFER OF NTAGANDA TO ICC

Arusha, March 21, 2013 (FH) – Rwanda will support the US as necessary to ensure that Congolese Tutsi rebel Bosco Ntaganda can be transferred to the International Criminal Court as soon as possible, according to Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

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Bosco Ntaganda, who has two ICC arrest warrants out for him, has been in the US embassy in Kigali since Monday. According to US officials, he surrendered himself and asked to be transferred to the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands.

“We will work to ensure that the US embassy has what it needs concerning the Bosco Ntaganda case as quickly as possible,” Kagame promised, according to an official Rwandan communiqué. He gave this assurance during a meeting Wednesday in New York with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

According to the Rwandan communiqué, the Secretary General thanked Rwanda for this cooperation, stressing that Ntaganda’s transfer to the ICC is important for the fight against impunity.

Meanwhile ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told a press conference on Wednesday that the transfer of General Ntaganda should take place in the next few days.

Earlier in the day, the US said ICC envoys were their way to Rwanda to transfer Ntaganda to The Hague.

ER/JC