OTTAWA - Sources say Liberal Sen. Romeo Dallaire, best known in Canada as the former commander of the UN's ill-fated peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, is retiring from the upper chamber next month.
Dallaire, a former lieutenant-general who retired from the Canadian Forces in 2000, was appointed to the Senate in 2005 by Paul Martin, then prime minister.
But it was his time in Rwanda that left a permanent mark on Dallaire, who still bears the mental and emotional scars of bearing witness to the bloody genocide that erupted there in the spring of 1994.
As the world marked the tragedy's 20th anniversary last month, Dallaire complained bitterly about lessons he says have gone unheeded -- including his sense that the Conservative government wants little to do with the UN.
He made headlines in December when he fell asleep at the wheel of his car and crashed into a traffic barrier on Parliament Hill -- an accident he attributed to a lack of sleep he linked to the Rwandan anniversary.
Dallaire, who has scheduled a news conference for later this morning, has long used his role as senator to champion the needs of military veterans.
