Congo's former rebel leader, Frédéric Bintsangou, alias Pastor Ntoumi, is to take up his position in the government and participate in efforts aimed at restoring stability.

"We’ve come to Madibou [a suburb of Brazzaville, the capital] with the reverend to speed things up. We left Kinkala district for Brazzaville this morning," said Anné-Philippe Bibi, Ntoumi's spokesperson and legal adviser.

Ntoumi is, with effect from 10 September, expected to take up his appointment as a general delegate in the office of the head of state in charge of the promotion of peace and post-conflict reconstruction. Ntoumi, who was appointed to the position by presidential decree in May, is expected to take part in the Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) programme.

In all, 10,000 people, mainly fighters and ex-combatants from the Conseil National des Républicains (CNR) party, were due in Brazzaville to attend an official ceremony on 10 September when Ntoumi was expected to address his supporters, said Franck Euloge Mpassi, spokesman for CNR.

The DDR programme was launched by the government nearly a year ago and Ntoumi's arrival in the capital is expected to speed up the process as he and his associates will be available to identify the beneficiaries.

The DDR programme, financed to the tune of US$17 million by the World Bank, should involve 30,000 ex-combatants, 5,000 of whom are closely associated with Ntoumi.

"We have set aside a quota of 5,000 of Ntoumi’s ex-combatants who should be taken into account within the framework of the national DDR programme," said Joseph Mbossa, the DDR coordinator. "We are well-advanced and expect the reverend to make his people available," he added.

Ntoumi should have a 50-man guard, 25 of whom will be provided by the national army.

His return comes one month after parliamentary elections in which his party failed to win any seats.