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Congo Rebels Broken By Leader's Capture

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The New York Times

Published: January 25, 2009

KIBUMBA, Congo - On Saturday afternoon, seemingly the entire village of Kibumba lined up alongside the main road and watched a once fearsome rebel army dissolve in front of their eyes.

"We're done," said one rebel, who identified himself as Captain Amiable.

If Kibumba is any indicator, the fierce rebellion in eastern Congo headed by Gen. Laurent Nkunda may be ending with his arrest. Rwandan troops captured Nkunda along the Congo-Rwanda border on Thursday night.

It was a stunning turn of events, especially because Rwanda used to be one of Nkunda's top backers. Two days later, hundreds of his troops agreed to be trucked to collection points to be integrated into the army.

Few ever doubted the charismatic pull Nkunda had over his men. He was a true believer, with a messianic conviction that he had been put on this earth to protect fellow Tutsis in Congo from being slaughtered as they were in Rwanda in 1994.

But all that acclaimed discipline, which had helped the rebels to rout the Congolese government troops just about every time they faced off, seems to have vanished as fast as its leader.

Meanwhile, Rwandan and Congolese troops exchanged fire with Rwandan Hutu militiamen in eastern Congo on Saturday, killing nine in the first fighting reported since an unprecedented joint military operation began last week, the U.N. said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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