Around August 2008, Nkunda vowed to overthrow the Congolese government and to cease Kinshasa. And he started his march toward Goma, the provincial capital of South Kiva. Those actions caused the over 250,000 people to leave their homes and flee the violence. The western world reacted with shock and diplomacy.
Earlier this month, Nkunda was dethoned. And now, he is in Rwandan jail.
By almost any measure, it has been a spectacular reversal of fortune for General Laurent Nkunda.
Two weeks ago, he was widely regarded as the key power-broker in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He had forced the Congolese government into direct negotiations after advancing his troops to the outskirts of the regional capital, Goma.
A seemingly endless conga-line of diplomats and envoys had passed through his headquarters in the town of Rutshuru, begging him to accept a permanent ceasefire and a lasting peace agreement.
When I last saw him, Gen Nkunda was on the veranda of his sprawling farmhouse headquarters, locked in an animated conversation with diplomats despatched by the UN secretary general's special envoy.
Meanwhile, a European Union delegation led by Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs Louis Michele sipped tea in the lounge waiting for their turn with the uniformed commander.
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