The Hague - A hearing to confirm charges against notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel Dominic Ongwen should be held in Uganda, the International Criminal Court said on Thursday, as it dropped the case against a second LRA leader.
"The chamber considers that it would be desirable and in the interest of justice to hold the confirmation of charges hearing in Uganda," the ICC judges said in a statement.
The case should be heard "closest to the location of the alleged crimes", if possible the northern town of Gulu, or the capital Kampala.
Ongwen, around 40, a former child soldier-turned-warlord, faced the ICC judges earlier this year for the first time on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He was handed over to the Netherlands-based court in January following his surprise surrender to US forces, who are helping Uganda track down LRA rebels.
Led by its charismatic leader Joseph Kony, the LRA has waged a campaign of terror for the past three decades across central Africa.
The group is accused of killing more than 100 000 people and abducting 60 000 children in a bloody rebellion in northern Uganda that started in 1987. Read more
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