KINSHASA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) hails the recent decision by the Rwandese Supreme Court to send a former Tutsi rebel leader in the central African country before a military court.

Laurent Nkunda, the leader of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), was arrested in January 2009 in Rwanda when fleeing a joint military crackdown by the two neighboring countries in the eastern part of DR Congo.

"The Congolese government respects the sovereign decision by a sovereign state and we shall continue to wait for a response from Rwanda on our request for the extradition of Laurent Nkunda to DR Congo, so that he can answer for the atrocities he committed in North and South Kivu," Congolese Communication Minister Lambert Mende Omalanga said on Friday.

"We were not yet at the stage to say whether there are charges or no against Nkunda because the hearing of his case has not yet begun," the minister said, adding they were in the process of discussing with the Rwandese justice minister to get his extradition.

Reports said the Rwandese Supreme Court found itself incompetent to rule on the request by Nkunda's lawyer Stephane Bourgon, a Canadian, to set him free and sent the issue to a military tribunal.
According to his lawyer, who was also pleased with this decision, there is no arrest warrant or charges against Nkunda.

In efforts to seek rapprochement, DR Congo and Rwanda launched a joint operation on Jan. 20, 2009 against the CNDP and the Rwandan Hutu rebels, resulting in the arrest of Nkunda two days later in Rwanda.

First placed under house arrest at Gisenyi, a Rwandese border town with DR Congo, the ex-general was later transferred to Kigali.

At that time, Rwandese President Paul Kagame told reporters that Nkunda had been detained at Gisenyi with a view of "facilitating relations between our two countries." "The Nkunda issue is purely a Congolese one. It is them who will eventually resolve it," he added.