A Congolese militia leader suspected of being involved in the death of nine UN peacekeepers and mass atrocities in northeastern Congo was handed over to the International Criminal Court on Friday.

Thomas Lubanga, whose tribal faction wreaked havoc in Ituri region during the five-year civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was the first suspect to be arrested and delivered to the Hague-based court after being flown out of Kinshasa.