WFP to look into reported food theft

WFP on Thursday said it could neither confirm nor deny that WFP food was looted by security forces in the incident, but was taking such accusations seriously and intended to look into the matter. Deliveries to Kivumu Camp, where the agency targeted 4,529 people in its food distributions, had been suspended on Monday and Tuesday as a precaution, and WFP Deputy Country Director John Ayliess intended to visit the camp as soon as practicable to try and shed more light on the situation, an official told IRIN. Foreign diplomats in the Burundian capital expected a formal response from the Ministry of External Relations to a request for an investigation into the incident, which was considered to be damaging to Burundi’s international relations, a diplomatic source in Bujumbura told IRIN.