New FNL leader's troops said behind killing of Rwandan Hutus

In the first days of February 2000, FNL troops under the command of Agathon, systematically killed Rwandan Hutus who had been fighting alongside them against the Burundi army, according to the international organisations, Human Rights Watch. The Burundi authorities estimated that 200 to 300 combatants had been killed, but witnesses provided accounts of the death of about 100, it stated.

Those killed were variously suspected of disloyalty, wanting to desert the movement or planning - perhaps with the complicity of the Burundi army or rival Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD) rebels - to eliminate the leadership of the FNL, Human Rights Watch added. [go to: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/burundi/Burn004-05.htm]