Congolese warlord re-emerges:

A fugitive Congolese warlord given a life sentence for crimes against humanity made a dramatic public appearance Tuesday more than five years after breaking out of jail, an AFP correspondent saw.

But it was not immediately clear what steps, if any, would be taken to return Kyungu Mutanga, alias “Gedeon”, to custody in relation to his 2009 conviction on charges that also included war crimes, insurrection and terrorism.

Far from being paraded as a wanted criminal, Mutanga emerged in the southeastern city of Lubumbashi aboard an army jeep at a ceremony replete with dancers and singers held in his honour and attended by hundreds of police officers and soldiers outside the local legislature.

General Philemon Yav, in charge of the army in the region, said Mutanga was “under military surveillance” but was not being detained or under house arrest.

“I have come today to hand in my weapons,” Mutanga told the crowd, saying he was complying with an appeal for armed groups to surrender issued by President Joseph Kabila, whose portrait emblazoned his tee-shirt.

“We want peace. I am not afraid of anyone, nor of the courts of my country,” he said before leaving in the official car of the provincial governor, Jean-Claude Kazembe, who also attended the event.

Yav said it had taken a year of negotiations to get Mutanga to hand over his weapons, an act he described as a “victory for the Congolese people.”

The general called on leaders of the dozens of armed groups active in the east of DR Congo to follow the warlord’s “good example.” (AFP)