A high military court in Congo convicted former President Joseph Kabila of treason and war crimes Tuesday on accusations of collaborating with anti-government rebels and sentenced him to death.

It was not immediately clear how the sentence could be carried out because the whereabouts of Kabila, who has been on trial in absentia since July, have been unknown since he last was seen in public in a rebel-held city earlier this year. Kabila's political party called the verdict politically motivated.

The court in Kinshasa ordered his immediate arrest.

The government said Kabila collaborated with Rwanda and the Rwanda-backed rebel group M23, which seized key cities in a lightning assault in January in Congo's mineral-rich east.

Kabila has denied the allegations, though he expressed support fo

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