Congolese "Terminator" warlord Bosco Ntaganda on Thursday told the International Criminal Court he was 'a soldier, not a criminal', breaking his silence for the first time since handing himself over in 2013.

"I am a soldier... I am not a criminal," Ntaganda told judges at the Hague-based court, where he is facing 18 war crimes and crimes against humanity charges for his role in a deadly 2002-03 conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.