Ag Boula was leader of the 1990s Front for the Liberation of Aïr and Azaouak (FLAA), one of the two main rebel groups in the conflict.
Rhissa and Mano Dayak became joint leaders of the combined front which negotiated a peace deal with the Nigerien government, the Armed Resistance Organization (ORA).
[5] In 2004 he was named as an accomplice in the 26 January murder of ruling MNSD party activist Adam Amangue in Tchirozerine.
Beginning in July 2005, several Tuareg former insurgents led by Rhissa's brother Mohamed Ag Boula, began a series of attacks in the north, culminating in the kidnap three Nigerien police officers and one soldier, demanding the release of the former Minister.
[15][16] In 2009, the FFR joined the Libyan sponsored peace process that resulted in the May 2009 end of the conflict and a general amnesty for crimes committed in the course of the insurgency.
[citation needed] In January 2011 Ag Boula was elected Regional Councilor of Agadez for a term of four years, and in September 2011 appointed adviser to the President of the Republic, Mahamadou Issoufou.
[20] In September, Ag Boula was reported to be seen leading a large convoy entering Niger from Libya consisting of more than a dozen pickup trucks with well-armed Libyan troops.