NGO denies paying ransom for hostages

The director and co-director of the humanitarian relief agency Memisa-Coped held a press conference in Bujumbura on Thursday during which they denied having paid a ransom for the release of their six workers who were abducted in Makamba province last Friday by the rebel Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD). Bob Smit and Father Jean-Berchmans Nzisabira wanted to counter claims that a sum of US $12,000 was paid. According to the two men, the FDD only took the medicines the vehicle was transporting.
FDD spokesman, Jerome Ndiho, stated on Wednesday that the FDD had taken the workers hostage because they entered territory under FDD control without first seeking permission. The release of the six workers of the Dutch-Burundian NGO was the result of lengthy negotiations with the FDD leadership in Europe, along with the support of several western embassies.

The abduction took place near Bukeye, in Makamba province, while the six were travelling to treat people displaced by Burundi’s civil war.
Based on accounts of eyewitnesses, it is believed that they were then moved to Burundian refugee camps just across the border in Tanzania, where the FDD is alleged to have bases. Burundi President Pierre Buyoya has claimed that Tanzania is allowing rebels to use its territory as a springboard for attacks inside Burundi, a claim that the Tanzanian government has denied.