France, May 23 -- Democratic Republic of Congo's Senate has overwhelmingly voted to strip former president Joseph Kabila of his honorific immunity. It follows accusations he backed the M23 rebel group which has seized land in the mineral-rich east of the country with Rwandan support.

In a vote on Thursday, 88 senators voted in favour of lifting Kabila's immunity. Five opposed, and three abstained.

The senate vote leaves Kabila, president from 2001 to 2019, open to prosecution by a military court on charges of supporting the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group, which has seized parts of the eastern DRC.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi alleges Kabila conspired with the M23, whose recent offensive has intensified the more than three-decade...