Brussels, 21/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the CFSP welcomed in a press release the transfer from Kinshasa to the Hague and trial of Thomas Lubanga (an important militia leader in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo) at the International Criminal Court. Mr Solana affirmed that the arrest of Thomas Lubanga, “the first of this kind, is an historic moment in international justice. It is also the first arrest warrant made by the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court as part of his investigation into the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is also, and above all, a crucial stage in the fight against impunity, which has for too long prevailed in the African Great Lakes region and which is one of the reasons for the conflicts in this region. The trial of this important militia leader comes at a time when the EU has, more than ever, mobilised for the DRC, a key country of the Great Lakes region, so that it succeeds in getting out of this crisis, in the interest of the whole Congolese people and regional stability”. (For the EP's resolution on impunity in Africa see EUROPE 9154).