A FORMER Congolese child soldier recanted his testimony against an accused warlord yesterday, throwing a landmark war crimes trial into confusion in its opening stages.

A former child soldier told a war crimes hearing today how he was snatched off the street and sent to a military camp.

CHILDREN snatched from Congo streets were trained to kill and forced to fight in a brutal ethnic war, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor said yesterday as the tribunal opened its historic first trial.

Children as young as nine were snatched from the streets and trained to kill by Congo warlord Thomas Lubanga, the International Criminal Court’s historic first trial heard today..

Warlord Thomas Lubanga calmly pleaded not guilty to exploiting hundreds of child soldiers “to kill, pillage and rape” as his trial finally began at the International Criminal Court today

The International Criminal Court’s historic first trial will begin today with a Congolese warlord facing six charges of recruiting and sending child soldiers to fight and die in bloody ethnic battles.

Judges at the International Criminal Court today ordered an alleged Congolese warlord to be tried on charges he recruited child soldiers and sent them into battle, making him the first suspect to stand trial at the permanent war crimes court.

The world’s first permanent international criminal court is due to formally begin work today with a landmark hearing.

TWO days of clashes between rival ethnic groups in a troubled Congo region killed 120 people, a tribal leader said yesterday.