Army dismisses rebel allegations

The Burundi army spokesman, Colonel Longin Minani, on Wednesday dismissed claims by rebels that the government had carried out the attack on the Sabena plane as “nonsense”. “We were expecting this from them,” Minani told IRIN. “The allegations are untrue and people who were at the scene and know the area well know it is all lies they are saying,” he added. “Security officers followed them and they retreated into the Rukoko reserve, on Burundi’s border with the DRC, where they used to hide in the past,” Minani said.

The Burundi peace facilitator’s chief adviser on Burundi, Prof Nicholas Haysom, was unable to comment on the incident, but stressed that the facilitation team was “continuing with talks aimed at convincing the armed groups to lay down their weapons and join in at the negotiating table”. He said despite the “threats” issued by the FNL on Tuesday, it was “too early to say anything”. “But the incident does not affect the ongoing peace process,” he noted.