Bagaza house arrest extended by 60 days

Burundi’s interior and public security minister, Salvator Ntihabose, has extended by 60 days the house arrest of former President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, the Iteka human rights groups reported on Thursday from the capital, Bujumbura. The extension, made public on Tuesday, is the second this year, following a previous one issued in early January. The ministerial decree called on the gendarmerie and the office of the mayor of Bujumbura to "scrupulously apply" the measure. However, according to Iteka, Bagaza has the right to appeal against the order within two-weeks of its issuance. Bagaza has been under house arrest in Bujumbura since 4 November 2002. At the time Ntihabose said, "We have uncovered that he has a plan to destabilise and even to shed blood." Ntihabose was speaking after eight grenades exploded in the capital's residential districts of Ngagara, Nyakabiga and Musaga. Bagaza's Parti pour le redressement national (Parena) is under a six-month suspension, and several of his close associates are being held in the central prison of Mpimba. Bagaza returned to Burundi in late June 2002 after four years of self-imposed exile, saying he wanted to take part in the nation's political life.