The Rwandan authorities are considering the integration of a main rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), into the national forces, a senior official said here Wednesday.

"We allow them to return like any other Rwandans and be integrated into the community. But if they want to join the army, there are normal procedures to follow," Rwandan Presidential Envoy to the Great Lakes region Richard Sezibera said.

He added that those who qualify and want to join the forces will join as stipulated under the army procedures.

He was reacting to information that the FDLR troops had asked to be incorporated into the national army, the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF), after the insurgents based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced a cessation of the brutal acts carried out during the last decade.

The envoy said that the return of the FDLR is not supposed to be appended to any condition and noted that those who found to have participated in the 1994 genocide should be ready to face the law.

"The participation in genocide is an individual responsibility and those who did it will have to face the traditional courts in Gacaca, the UN tribunal and other courts that try criminals," he said.

Rwanda's traditional justice system Gacaca began operating across Rwanda in March, as part of the government's efforts to clear a backlog of genocide cases that were pending before the regular national courts.

Source: Xinhua