Callixte Mbarushimana, former United Nations employee and leader of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, has been arrested for war crimes.

Mbarushimana is accused of mass rapes and killings throughout Congo in 2009 and is also wanted for his alleged role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Authorities arrested the Rwandan rebel leader in France on Monday. He is charged with 11 counts of crimes against humanity, including gender persecution and destruction of property.

The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known by its French acronym FDLR, is blamed for triggering two wars in the Congo that killed four million people.

"It's a good, good thing considering the multiple crimes committed by the FDLR, which Mbarushimana managed from abroad," Lambert Mende, a government spokesman in the Congo, said.

"His Congolese victims demand justice for the crimes committed in their country," he said.