Archbishop Simon Ntamwana will "not give in" to terror

The secretary-general of the Bishops' Conference of Burundi, Archbishop Gabriel Baregensabe, said on Friday that the Catholic Church would "be careful", but would not give in to terrorism. Baregensabe was speaking in response to a threat by a rebel faction to kill a prominent church leader, Archbishop Simon Ntamwana, unless he left the country within 30 days. "We cannot give in to terrorism," Baregensabe told IRIN. On Wednesday, the Forces nationales de liberation-Parti de liberation du peuple hutu (FNL-Palipehutu) faction led by Agathon Rwasa, the only rebel faction not to have signed up to Burundi's peace process, threatened to kill Ntamwana, because he had blamed it for the killing of the apostolic nuncio to Burundi, Michael Courtney. Courtney died on Monday after gunmen ambushed his car 50 km south of the capital, Bujumbura. Baregensabe told IRIN it was not the first time that Ntamwana had received such a threat, but it was the first time a threat had been broadcast by radio stations. "This will not stop us from carrying out our apostolic mission, we will perhaps be more careful than before," he said, adding that since the assassination of Ntamwana's predecessor, Archbishop Joachim Ruhuna, in 1996, all bishops had been protected. In a press briefing on Friday, Burundi Foreign Minister Terence Sinunguruza said it was the government's duty to protect all citizens, especially those who were threatened. The FNL-Palipehutu spokesman, Pasteur Habimana, told IRIN on Thursday the group had nothing against the Catholic Church. "We are only against Ntamwana as an individual for having accused us without any proof, instead of waiting for the inquiry," he said. FNL-Palipehutu has denied responsibility for the killing of Courtney.