Rwanda justifies role in Congo by seizing rebel chief

Rwanda claimed a victory in its efforts to justify its role in the three-year war in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday when it announced the capture of a Hutu rebel leader, who was said to be attempting to infiltrate the country and commit a new genocide.

Rwanda's army said a unit in the Ruhengeri region had hunted down and captured Pierre Habimana, known as Colonel Bemera, the chief-of-staff of the Alir rebel movement. Since May, from bases in the DRC, Alir has been attacking the north-eastern region of Rwanda – home to the Mountain Gorillas – resulting in some of the bloodiest fighting for years.

Colonel Charles Kayonga, who is a military adviser to the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, said the capture of Habimana, a former major in the Rwandan army, underscored the need for the country to remain vigilant in the face of foreign aggressors. "Our interest is to pursue and destroy the former [Hutu] army and prevent them from destabilising Rwanda. Effectively, this is the continuation of our liberation struggle,'' he said.

Observers believe Alir and other Hutu groups are trying to return to Rwanda to avoid being disarmed under the DRC peace process. But Col Kayonga said the Hutu insurgents had been armed by President Joseph Kabila, the DRC leader with whom Rwanda is at war. Partly because of President Kabila's international charm offensive since he succeeded his late father, Laurent-Désiré, in January, Rwanda has lost much of the international support it enjoyed for backing the rebel groups involved in the DRC war. The world community has similarly cooled its enthusiasm for Uganda's backing of rebel groups fighting President Kabila in the north of DRC.

A recent United Nations expert group report on the pillaging of DRC by foreign countries strongly criticised Rwanda and Uganda for turning the war into a business. Rwanda was condemned for its soaring exports of coltan and cassiterite – minerals used in the making of mobile phones. But the report has been somewhat discredited for giving an easy ride to equally business-minded countries allied to President Kabila – Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola.

The Rwandan army claims to have killed more than 1,000 Hutu rebels and captured hundreds more since Alir, based in hide-outs in the wilderness of eastern DRC, launched its offensive in May. It says Alir is led by former officers of the mainly Hutu government army that committed the three-month genocide of minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda in 1994, which claimed up to 800,000 lives.

Rwanda's Tutsi-dominated government claims tens of thousands of Hutu militiamen are still hiding in the DRC. Col Kayonga said: "Even today they talk with vehemence and arrogance about killing people. We know they are still determined and we believe they have being armed by Kabila through airdrops into the forest, and have been trained by Zimbabwe.'' The DRC government denies the allegation.

Rwanda's jails are stretched to breaking point with suspects arrested on suspicion of taking part in the genocide. The jail population has swelled to 13,000.

The United Nations Security Council set up a tribunal at the end of 1994 to try Rwandans suspected of leading or organising the genocide but has been criticised for its slow progress. So far the court in Arusha, Tanzania, has completed the trials of nine suspects, eight of whom were found guilty.

Last week, three Rwandans were arrested in Switzerland, Belgium and Holland on charges linked to the mass killings and were due to be transferred to Arusha.