Rwanda Examining DRC’s Request for M23 rebels

{{Rwandan is examining extradition requests for four former senior M23 rebels wanted by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said on Thursday.}}

“The ministry of Justice is examining the requests,” she said.

On July 25, Kinshasa issued three arrest orders for four former M23 rebels who fled to Rwanda in mid- March following a split in the group.

The extradition request targets Jean-Marie Runiga, M23’s former political chief, Colonel Baudouin Ngaruye, who according to Kinshasa is a self-proclaimed M23 brigadier general, and two other senior rebels Lieutenant-colonel Eric Badege and Colonel Innocent Zimurinda.

The M23 is composed mainly of former Congolese Tutsi rebels who were integrated into the DRC army in late 2009 but then mutinied in 2012.

The group has been active in DR Congo’s troubled eastern province of North Kivu for a year and a half.

In February, the group split into two different factions, one loyal to a commander, Sultani Makenga, and the other loyal to political leader Runiga.

This split resulted in fierce fighting that sent some 700 men from Runiga’s faction crossing into Rwanda to seek refuge.

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