Congolese warlords can be prosecuted: global court

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Prosecutors have enough evidence to send two Congolese warlords accused of war crimes to trial but not on all charges, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Friday.

The ICC said in a statement there was evidence to prosecute Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo for war crimes of attacking civilians, sexual slavery, and rape committed through other persons, and using child soldiers.

The court said there was not enough evidence to try them on other charges of crimes against humanity.

The trial chamber must now set a date for the start of the trial, but it is unlikely it will start this year, said Sonia Robla, head of public information and documentation at the ICC.

The two allied militia leaders are accused of directing an attack in 2003 on the village of Bogoro in the north eastern Congolese district of Ituri, an area long riven by conflict over its rich natural resources including gold, diamonds and oil.

Prosecutors said in June there was evidence that more than 200 children, women, elderly and civilian men were killed in an attack during which women were sexually enslaved in camps and repeatedly raped.

The ICC was set up in 2002 as the world's first permanent criminal tribunal, and more than 100 countries recognize its authority.

Ngudjolo's lawyer asked in February for any trial to be dismissed as he had already been acquitted of similar charges in Congo.

(Reporting by Gilbert Kreijger and Aaron Gray-Block)