Nkunda Arrested

...by the Armed Forces of Rwanda, inside Rwanda.

Really.

Rwandan army spokesman Maj. Jill Rutaremara said Nkunda was detained around 10:30 p.m. (2300GMT) Thursday because "a force loyal to him" resisted the joint operation to hunt the Hutu fighters.

"Whoever resists the smooth running of the joint operation is a barrier," Rutaremara said by telephone from Tanzania. "He was a barrier."

They say it was a peaceful arrest, but...

There seems to be some alternative versions of the story circulating:

"Ex-general Laurent Nkunda was arrested on Thursday, January 22 at 2230 hours while he was fleeing on Rwandan territory after he had resisted our troops at Bunagana with three battalions," Congolese and Rwandan military commanders said in a statement.

But a rebel associate of Nkunda, Jean-Desire Muiti, disputed that account, saying the rebel leader had gone to Rwanda late on Thursday after being "called for consultations".

The Congolese are already asking for his extradition to serve a 2005 international Arrest Warrant on him.

What this means for the CNDP movement, and where the "splinter faction" supposedly led by B. Ntaganda comes in the picture, is still not clear. Nor is it clear what impact this matter will have on the supposed objective of the Rwanda-Congo joint operation against the Interahamwe FDLR militants.

Nothing is ever simple here.

T.I.A.