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Burundi Defence Minister Cyrille Ndayirukiye said on Sunday that his nation now wants an international force along its border with Tanzania to monitor Hutu rebels infiltrating into Burundi, according to news organisations.
A Burundi news agency, Expresso, quoted him as saying that such an international force would be able to investigate Tanzania's involvement in the war being waged by two Burundi Hutu rebel groups - the Force pour la defense de la democratie and the Forces nationale de liberation - against the power-sharing government in Bujumbura inaugurated on 1 November 2001.
"Today, we've decided that enough is enough," AFP quoted him as saying.
During the past few days, he said, rebels forces had crossed into Burundi's eastern province of Ruyigi, and Makamba in the south. Net Press, another local news agency, quoted him as saying that the rebels were operating in close collaboration with the former Rwandan army (known as the ex-FAR), the Interahamwe (the Rwandan Hutu militia who perpetrated the 1994 genocide in that country), "and Congolese elements".
Burundian government troops had recently killed an ex-FAR officer, Col Mugemane, in Rutegama, Muramvya Province, Net Press reported, adding that a diary found on Mugemane contained the names of nine other "rebel leaders" who had died in battle.
The Burundi army has accused Tanzania of providing the rebels with materiel, logistical aid, and training. Yet, Tanzania has been hosting a series of peace talks with the rebels, to try and obtain a ceasefire. A meeting due on Thursday failed to convene because the rebels said they needed more time to prepare.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
