DR CONGO - The head of training in the Rally for Unity and Democracy (RUD-Urunana), a faction of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDRL) militia, was yesterday repatriated to Rwanda after handing himself over to the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC).

Colonel Rashid Ngoboka returned with his family and six armed escorts. 

Ngoboka, who left Rwanda after the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi as a 2nd Lieutenant, rose through the ranks within the FDRL. He was based in Lubero.

Speaking at Rubavu District headquarters, the former rebel said, "I have decided to come back to my country since rebel life is history and I am now a new person back in Rwanda.

"I have come with my family and six other soldiers who were under my command,” he said, holding a child in his arms.

Jean Sayinzoga, the chairman of the Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (RDRC), dismissed reports by RUD-Urunana that Ngoboka had been dismissed.

"His partners in RUD are falsely claiming that they chased him away, yet he actually ran away from them. We are still waiting for others who he fled with,” Sayinzoga said.

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