UN troops murder suspect arrested

Ituri has long been plagued by fighting between rebel groups

A militia leader accused of ordering the killing of nine UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this year has been arrested.

Justin Ngole Dalo, known as Koliba, is the main suspect in the murder of the nine Bangladeshi soldiers in the eastern district of Ituri in February.

He is also accused of organising the murder of 100 civilians in the Ituri town of Gobu in January.

UN spokeswoman Rachel Eklou said Koliba was arrested by the Congolese army.

He was then transferred to a prison in the capital Kinshasa, she said.

"We have been putting pressure on the army to execute an existing arrest warrant for Koliba," she added.

Reuters news agency quotes government military sources as saying that Koliba was held at an army base in south-west Congo, where he was trying to join the country's new army.

Although DR Congo's five-year civil war officially ended in 2003, militia-inspired violence has continued in much of the country, especially in eastern regions.

The arrest warrant for Koliba, issued by an Ituri prosecutor in May, accused him of murder, kidnapping and extortion.