DR Congo ex-warlord guilty of war crimes

Former Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba has been found guilty of war crimes in a landmark trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Bemba, 53, was accused of failing to stop his rebels from killing and raping people in neighboring Central African Republic (CAR) in 2002 and 2003.
He had sent more than 1,000 fighters to help put down an attempted coup.
Bemba, once vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, will remain in custody until sentencing.
The court in The Hague found him guilty of several charges including rape and murder. He is expected to appeal.
It is the first time the ICC has focused on rape as a weapon of war, and the first time a suspect has been convicted over crimes committed by others under his command.
Carrie Comer, from the International Federation for Human Rights, said the verdict was "a historic moment for victims of such unspeakable atrocities".
It was "a strong message from ICC judges that commanders must prevent and punish war crimes," she wrote on Twitter.
It is alleged that for a period of five months Bemba's Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) rebel fighters killed hundred of civilians, raped women and looted.
The court heard horrific accounts, including how a man, his wife, his daughters and his granddaughter were all gang-raped by militiamen.
Bemba's lawyers argued that once the troops had crossed the border they were no longer under his command, but under the then-CAR President Ange-Felix Patasse.
But the presiding judge ruled that Bemba had effective control over the troops and was therefore "criminally responsible".
Mr Bemba led the MLC during DR Congo's brutal civil war. He is the son of a prominent businessman and a former assistant to ex-Congolese President Mobutu Sese Seko.
After a peace deal in DR Congo in 2003, he laid down his arms and joined an interim government.
Bemba is the most senior figure to face judgement at the court and only the third person to be convicted since the court's founding in 2002.
Germain Katanga and Thomas Lubanga, both Congolese former warlords, have previously been found guilty of offences.