Heavy fighting in Bujumbura

There were continued military clashes between the army and the rebel Forces nationales pour la liberation (FNL) in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, on Tuesday following the announcement on Monday by President Pierre Buyoya that he would not hand over leadership of the country [in a transition period proposed under the Arusha agreement] in the absence of a ceasefire, according to media reports. There was heavy artillery shelling and intense gunfire in the northern suburbs of Bujumbura echoed over the capital, Reuters news agency reported. There was also light arms fire from the suburb of Kinama, and the neighbouring Cibitoke district, on Tuesday, AFP reported. This was the eleventh day of a fierce assault by the FNL. Army spokesman Colonel Longin Minani said the security forces were on the verge of driving the FNL out of Kinama, ABP reported on Wednesday. Minani said that, at the beginning of the attack on 24 February, the army did not want to cause too much damage in Kinama because they were concerned that innocent civilians would be used by the rebels as human shields. The security forces were on Wednesday engaged in making Kinama secure before allowing people to return to their homes, he added. Minani denounced what he called the complicity that had been noted between the people of Kinama and the rebellion. He asked that all citizens remain vigilant and notify the administration of any rebel infiltration, and especially asked them not to flee their neighbourhoods, ABP reported.