The case against Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese militia commander, which was mishandled from the start, looks wobbly.

ECONOMIST: The ICC and Africa: Dim prospects | The

He was part of the Union of Congolese Patriots rebel group, led by Thomas Lubanga who last year became the only person convicted by the ICC.

BBC: DR Congo: Bosco Ntaganda appears before ICC

In requesting the new warrant in May, Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he was seeking to expand the charges after reviewing evidence in the case against Thomas Lubanga, a former Congolese militia leader.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Its first actual trial, against Thomas Lubanga, a former Congolese warlord, at last got under way in January but had almost collapsed before it started when it was found that some evidence had been kept from defence lawyers.

ECONOMIST: The worst crimes, the law and the UN Security Council

If Mr Nkunda and other alleged war criminals, such as another warlord, Congo's Thomas Lubanga, whose trial has just begun at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, are sent to prison, hundreds of thousands of displaced Congolese may feel safe enough to start going home.

ECONOMIST: Congo and Rwanda