Pasteur Bizimungu (born April 1950) is a Rwandan politician who served as the third President of Rwanda, holding office from 19 July 1994 until 23 March 2000. A Hutu, Bizimungu had previously held several positions under President Juvenal Habyarimana throughout the 1980s. He joined the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebel group against Habyarimana in 1990 following the death of his brother seemingly under the orders of Habyarimana's government. After the RPF's victory in the Rwandan Civil War in 1994 which ended the Rwandan genocide, Bizimungu became the new president of the country with RPF commander Paul Kagame as Vice-President and minister of defense, who was seen as the country's de facto leader throughout his presidency. Bizumungu's presidency was marked by the reconstruction of the country in the wake of the civil war and genocide, as well as the country's support for rebel groups in the First Congo War from 1996 to 1997, and the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003. Following a series of disputes with Kagame, Bizimungu resigned in 2000, whereupon he was succeeded by Kagame. The following year, Bizimungu founded the Party for Democratic Renewal, which was immediately banned by Kagame's new government. In 2004, Bizimungu was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for attempting to form a militia, inciting violence, and embezzlement, but was pardoned three years later by Kagame. Early life A Rwandan, Bizimingu was born in the Gisenyi prefecture of Rwanda. According to the academic Filip Reyntjens, Bizimungu had ties to radical anti-Tutsi groups as a student in the 1970s, but later joined the RPF. He served as President of Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. Relationship to MRND In the 1980s and 1990s, Bizimungu worked within the MRND government which ruled Rwanda until 1994. Prior to 1990, Bizimungu had close ties to Hutu president Juvénal Habyarimana. During this period, he held several positions, including director-general of Electrogaz, the national electricity company. In 1990 he joined the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) after his brother, a colonel in the Rwandan Armed Forces, was murdered. At the time, the RPF was just beginning its invasion of Rwanda from Uganda, starting the Rwandan Civil War. Bizimungu lived in exile in Belgium, serving as the party's information officer. In 1993, he helped negotiate the 1993 Arusha Accords. After Habyarimana's death in a plane crash on 6 April 1994, ethnic extremists unleashed the Rwandan genocide. Presidency In July 1994