Two Rwandan Hutus have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Forty-six-year-old Ignace Murwanashyaka and 48-year-old Straton Musoni were allegedly the leader and deputy leader of the paramilitary FDLR unit (Forces Democratique de la Liberation Rwandaise).

The originally Rwandan militia is believed to have committed murder and rape and to have burnt down villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this year and last year.

The two men have lived in Germany for many years and are thought to have instructed their troops from there. They were arrested in the southwestern city of Stuttgart.

The German Public Prosecution says it spent 12 months gathering the evidence it needed.

The FDLR has an estimated 6000 armed members. Many of them were involved in the 1994 genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda. Once the killing was over in Rwanda they crossed the border to DRC.

Photo: Congolese children fleeing - ANP