Rwandan genocide suspect and FDLR commander Habyarimana Mucebo arrested in DRC

A Rwandan rebel commander accused of being involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide has been arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Habyarimana Mucebo, believed to be the intelligence chief of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) militant group, was arrested in Rutshuru, in North Kivu province.

Mucebo was taken into custody for interrogation, the Congolose army was quoted by the BBC as saying.

However, the Congolese army explained Mucebo was also wanted for "leading Rwandan rebels in an attack on villagers and killing innocent people".

During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, more than 800,000 people – mainly Tutsis and moderate Hutus– were killed by Hutu extremists.

The Interahamwe – a Hutu paramilitary organisation whose name translates from Kinyarwanda as "those who stand together" – was accused of being behind the genocide. Following the end of the massacres, the Interahamwe and other Hutu extremists fled to the DRC where they formed the FDLR in 2000.

The group was used by the Congolese government to fight the Rwandan Patriotic Army and other foreign troops in the country during the Second Congo War, which erupted in 1998.

Following the end in 2003 of what has been dubbed the deadliest conflict in Africa, the FDLR continued to carry out attacks against Tutsis in Congo and along the border with Rwanda.

The group is allegedly responsible for several terror attacks that killed dozens of people in eastern Congo.