Nine killed in rebel attack on World Peace Day

Seven civilians and two soldiers were killed on Sunday when Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) rebels loyal to Rwasa Agathon stormed into a restaurant and opened fire in Bangateri, Muyira Zone, 10 km east of the capital Bujumbura, army spokesman Col Agustin Nzabampema told IRIN. Muyira is in Kanyosha Commune, Bujumbura Rural Province. Nzabampema said on Monday that other soldiers nearby returned fire. The attack occurred as the World Peace Day was being observed. The UN Office in Burundi had appealed to all belligerents to cease hostilities during World Peace Day, and the FNL had declared that it would comply. "We had decided not to open fire out of respect for the UN appeal to all belligerents but what happened on Sunday afternoon at Muyira was that we saw four soldiers with guns wandering in our area, we considered this as a provocation, then we opened fire on them and killed them," Pasteur Habimana, the FNL spokesman, said. He added, "The army retaliated forcefully, and innocent people died." He said that the FNL had supposed that everyone would remain in their position in conformity with the UN appeal. Sporadic fighting has been reported in several parts of the country throughout the year despite the signing of ceasefire agreements in 2002 between the transitional government and three rebel factions. The largest Hutu rebel movement, Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD), led by Pierre Nkurunziza, signed a ceasefire agreement with the government on 3 December 2002. Agathon's FNL faction, the second largest rebel group, has so far refused to enter negotiations with the government. Moreover, no agreement on power sharing has been reached between the government and the CNDD-FDD despite a series of talks in 2003. Meanwhile, President Domitien Ndayizeye is in New York to attend the 58th General Assembly of the UN. He is scheduled to hold a private discussion with the 15-member UN Security Council on Monday. On his departure to New York on Saturday, Ndayizeye told reporters in Bujumbura that he would appeal to the UN to put pressure on Rwasa's FNL to accept ceasefire negotiations and to other rebel groups to respect the ceasefire agreements they had signed.