Hutu rebel leader surrenders
2004-04-13 10:04
Kigali - A senior member of a Rwandan rebel movement surrendered to the Rwandan army last week after spending a decade in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the military said on Monday.
Evarist Murenzi was the second-in-command of an armed Hutu group known as Abacunguzi ("those who know" in Kinyarwanda), or FOCA, many members of which are suspected of taking part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
"Colonel Evariste Murenzi came back to Rwanda on Thursday, after crossing the border at Goma with his bodyguards," said Rwandan army spokesperson Ndore Rurinda.
"He spent Thursday night in (the northwest Rwandan town of) Gisenyi, then visited his family in the area. It's the first time we have seen him for 10 years. Then he came to Kigali yesterday (Sunday)."
When Tutsi rebels took power in Kigali in July 1994, putting an end to the genocide, the extremist Hutu forces behind the massacres fled to DRC, where they regouped and launched attacks against Rwanda.
Another leader of these forces, General Paul Rwarakibije, surrendered in November.
According to the UN, there are about 8 000 men in these forces in the DRC.
On Thursday night, the Rwandan army killed 16 FOCA fighters after they crossed the border and attacked a village in northwest Rwanda.
Most of the rebels who surrender are sent to rehabilitation camps for two or three months of re-education before being allowed to return to their villages.