Q&A: DR Congo conflict

All sides have committed atrocities against civilians

General Laurent Nkunda, leader of the strongest rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has been arrested in Rwanda.

Last year, an offensive by his forces led to fears of another humanitarian disaster in the country, with some 250,000 people fleeing their homes.

They joined more than one million already displaced in the region.

A vast nation in the heart of Africa, DR Congo is struggling to recover from a lengthy conflict in which up to five million people died, mostly through starvation and disease.

The world's largest UN peacekeeping force has been trying to help secure an end to that war, and prevent further outbreaks of fighting involving government troops, militia groups, rebel forces and now Rwandan troops.

What does Gen Nkunda's arrest mean?

Optimists hope that it will be the beginning of the end of 15 years of conflict in the region.

See detailed map of the area

If his forces lay down their weapons and join the national army, that would be a huge step towards bringing peace to eastern DR Congo.

Even if they try to fight on, they would be much weaker without their charismatic leader and more importantly, without backing from Rwanda.

His group has already split and fighters loyal to Gen Nkunda's fomer chief of staff Bosco Ntaganda are already working with the Congolese army.

Why has Rwanda turned on Gen Nkunda?

A UN report recently accused Rwanda and DR Congo of fighting a proxy war in eastern DR Congo, with Rwanda using Gen Nkunda and DR Congo backing Rwandan Hutu rebels based on its territory.

FORCES AROUND GOMA CNDP - Nkunda: 2,000 Tutsi fighters CNDP - Bosco:4,000 former Nkuna allies, now working with army FDLR: Rwandan Hutus - 6-7,000 Mai Mai: pro-government militia - 3,500 Monuc: UN peacekeepers - 6,000 in North Kivu, including about 1,000 in Goma (17,000 nationwide) DRC army: 90,000 (nationwide) Source: UN, military experts Country profile: DR Congo Timeline: DR Congo DR Congo: Key facts

Gen Nkunda is an ethnic Tutsi, like Rwanda's leaders, and they have long wanted to wipe out the Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) group.

Some of the leaders of the FDLR are accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which targeted Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Some 4,000 Rwandan troops have marched into DR Congo since 20 January 2009 under a deal with the Congolese government.

Most observers assumed they were after the FDLR.

However, it would appear that intense diplomacy has led to a deal under which DR Congo lets Rwanda take action against its enemies - the Hutu rebels based in DR Congo - as long as it first takes out Gen Nkunda.

If both groups are indeed neutralised, that would be a huge step forward and make peace in eastern DR Congo a realistic prospect.

What happens next?

The Congolese want Rwanda to extradite Gen Nkunda to face charges of treason and war crimes.

Even if this does not happen, the Congolese would be delighted to see him neutralised.

Meanwhile, the joint Congolese-Rwandan operation will turn its attention to the FDLR.

Analysts point out that Rwandan troops spent four years in DR Congo and failed to wipe out the FDLR, which has also resisted more recent attempts by the Congolese army, Gen Nkunda's forces and UN peacekeepers to disarm them.

What is the conflict about?

The origins of the conflict lie across the border in Rwanda and the genocide committed there in 1994.

Some of the extremist Hutu militias responsible crossed the border into what is now DR Congo.

Rwanda, now run by the Tutsi force which ended the genocide, has twice invaded its much larger neighbour, saying it wants to wipe out the Hutu militias.

Gen Nkunda has always claimed he was protecting Congolese Tutsis from attacks by the FDLR.

But all sides have also been accused of plundering eastern DR Congo's rich mineral resources - gold, diamonds, tin and coltan, used in mobile phones.

DR Congo is about the size of western Europe, but with no road or rail links from one side of the country to the other, making it easy to take advantage of any disorder and plunder natural resources.

A five-year war - sometimes termed "Africa's world war" as it drew in Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Rwanda - ended in 2003 with the formation of a transitional government and subsequent elections.

But unrest has continued in the unruly east of the country and, as a result, some armed groups have refused to disarm or join the national army.

What is the UN doing?

The UN has been taking control of several towns in the region.

The UN Security Council has voted to increase its 17,000-strong force by another 3,000.

But diplomats admit they do not know where the troops will come from, or when they will be sent.

There are currently some 5,500 peacekeepers in North Kivu, where the recent fighting has been taken place, including some 1,000 stationed in the provincial capital, Goma.

There have been calls for the mandate to be made stronger.

However, the force operates under a Chapter Seven mandate, the most robust available for a peacekeeping operation - allowing it to protect the civilian population and themselves.

There are also calls for Europe to send in an elite force, as France did when it lead a European Union mission to Ituri, further north of Goma, to stop a separate conflict a few years ago.

What about the civilians?

Aid workers are extremely worried about tens of thousands of people in the area.

All sides are accused of carrying out horrific atrocities against civilians, in particular mass rape.

Aid is now getting through to those who fled last year's fighting between Gen Nkunda's forces and the army.

A new wave of conflict, targeting the FDLR, could lead to another humanitarian disaster.

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